A last hope to try to defuse the Ukrainian crisis? The heads of American and Russian diplomacy gave themselves a handful of hours this Friday in Geneva to avoid the escalation of tensions, Washington suspecting Moscow of wanting to invade its neighbor despite threats of heavy reprisals. From the outset, Antony Blinken promised Sergei Lavrov a “united, rapid and severe response” in the event of an invasion of Ukraine, while ensuring that a diplomatic solution was sought.
This meeting in a palace on the shores of Lake Geneva is the last pas de deux of an intense diplomatic ballet, Washington suspecting Moscow of wanting to invade Ukraine, which the Kremlin denies while maintaining some 100,000 soldiers along the border of his neighbour. At the end of this meeting, which lasted only two hours, judging these talks “frank”, Sergei Lavrov assured that the United States promised a written response “next week” to the Russian demands for withdrawal from the Eastern European NATO. He also stressed that he and the US Secretary of State “agreed that a reasonable dialogue is necessary” for “the emotion to subside”.
Sergei Lavrov and Antony Blinken, who know each other well, shook hands around 10:00 GMT before getting to the heart of the matter before the journalists were even escorted from the meeting room. Less than 20 minutes before the start of the meeting, Russia let it be known from Moscow that it wanted the withdrawal of NATO foreign troops from Romania and Bulgaria as part of a treaty which it demands for a de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.
A “swift, severe and united response from the United States”
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden ruled that his counterpart Vladimir Putin “will enter” Ukraine and he promised him, in this case, “a rapid, severe and united response from the United States and our allies”. The Kremlin on Thursday denounced the “destabilizing” remarks, which might give ideas “to hotheads among Ukrainian representatives”.
Russia, which already supports the rebellion in the east of the country which has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014, and has annexed Crimea, denies any plans for an invasion. But the Kremlin insists on written guarantees for its security, including the promise that Kiev will not join NATO and that the Alliance will not seek to expand into what it considers its backyard. The United States has already dismissed these requests as unreasonable.
But the door is not quite closed: the Biden administration has repeatedly said that it is ready to discuss Russian fears for their safety. US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has proposed drawing inspiration from the defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) disarmament treaty, signed during the Cold War with Moscow.
On Wednesday, President Biden even said he was ready for a new summit with Vladimir Putin, following that of June 16, 2021 in Geneva. Russia did not say no to the proposals on missiles and maneuvers but recalled that this was not essential. For good measure, it announced on Thursday major naval maneuvers in January and February in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and even the Mediterranean.
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The head of American diplomacy on Wednesday urged Vladimir Putin to choose the “peaceful path”. Incidentally, he also made it clear that he would not offer written responses to the very detailed requests made by the Russians on the contentious points. Diplomats Sergei Lavrov and Antony Blinken will speak separately to the press following the meeting.