Russia and US Hold Security Talks. They Lasted Almost 8 Hours

US rejects Russian security proposals, including demands that Ukraine not join NATO.

On January 10, talks between the United States and Russia on security guarantees were held in Geneva. The meeting opened a week of international negotiations between the West and Russia over ultimatums concerning NATO expansion and “strategic stability,” which Russia put forward against the backdrop of its troops massing near Ukraine's borders. 

On the evening of January 9, the delegations held a preliminary meeting, at which Russia voiced a number of threatening statements. 

The meeting took place at the US mission to the UN in Geneva in a closed format. The talks lasted almost 8 hours. 

The Russian delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. The main spokesperson for Washington was Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. 

Key statements following the talks

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, at a press conference after the talks, again repeated Russia's ultimatum on no NATO expansion, admitting that “this topic raises very serious objections, to put it mildly.” At the same time, Ryabkov argued that the situation “is not hopeless” and declined to directly answer a question about how Russia would respond if its demands were not met. 

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said there was no answer to the question of whether Russia is ready for de-escalation, which for the US means withdrawing troops from Ukraine's borders. She noted that the “open door” principle of NATO is not up for discussion. However, Sherman added that the US is “open to discussing” the size and scale of military exercises “on a mutual basis.” 

Details of the talks

Wendy Sherman said the US rejects Russia's security proposals, including demands that Ukraine not join NATO. 

Wendy Sherman
US Deputy Secretary of State

We will not allow anyone to close NATO's open door policy, which has always been central to NATO. We will not abandon bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that want to work with the United States. And we will not make decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine, on Europe without Europe, or on NATO without NATO. 

According to her, in Geneva “there was a discussion, a better understanding of each other's and each other's priorities,” but “it was not what we would call negotiations.” 

Sherman noted that many proposals are unacceptable to Western officials, who insist that Cold War-style spheres of influence are a relic of the past and that countries should be able to choose their own alliances. 

Wendy Sherman said: “We did not go there and discuss the treaty they put on the table.” 

Commenting on the talks with Sherman, Sergei Ryabkov said that the possibility of a phone call between the presidents of Russia and the US is not being worked on: “Regarding a phone call between the leaders — no. At present, as far as I know, a new high-level contact is not being worked on, unless something else happened today.” 

He noted that clarity on whether a new round of talks with the US will take place will emerge in the coming days, and if so, it will be held in short order. Ryabkov said there would be no “long pauses” in any case, and the talks cannot be dragged out. 

Ryabkov said the US does not understand the issue of no NATO expansion and obtaining legal guarantees of a return to the 1997 borders: “It is no surprise that the topic of no further NATO expansion and obtaining legally binding guarantees on this, and the formal revocation of the decisions of the 2008 Bucharest summit, raises very serious objections, to put it mildly.” 

He noted that Ukraine and Georgia not joining NATO is an imperative and a matter of national security for Russia. 

Sergei Ryabkov
Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia

The United States of America states that neither Russia nor any other state should have any objections on such issues. We emphasize that for us this is a matter of extreme importance; it is very important that Ukraine can never in the future become part of NATO. We would like the NATO Madrid summit to revoke the formula adopted by the 2008 Bucharest summit. Neither Ukraine nor Georgia should become members of the North Atlantic Alliance. 

He stressed that Russia needs “iron, legal obligations, not promises, but precisely guarantees.”