US questions whether Russia takes Ukraine diplomacy seriously

The White House questioned that Russia is taking diplomatic channels seriously in its conversations with U.S and its allies to resolve the crisis related to Ukraine, a day after holding an extensive bilateral dialogue with Moscow.

“It is too early to know if the Russians are serious about the path to diplomatic or not, if they are prepared to negotiate seriously, in good faith,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a news conference. aboard the presidential plane bound for Atlanta (Georgia, USA).

He added that it is also possible that Russia wants to “use the talks” with the United States and its allies “as a pretext to (later) assert that diplomacy could not work and proceed with its rhetoric and, more importantly, its aggressive actions. on the border ”with Ukraine.

“There are a number of conversations that could be part of a diplomatic path. But the Russians are going to have to decide if they are going to take this seriously, “added the spokeswoman for the president of the United States, Joe Biden.

The United States and Russia held a strategic dialogue on Monday in Geneva (Switzerland) that concluded with very conflicting positions, and which was led by the US Undersecretary of State, Wendy Sherman, and the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Riabkov.

Russia asks the United States and NATO to back down in Eastern Europe, while American diplomacy defends that no one can demand from other countries who to ally with.

“NATO’s relationship with Ukraine is a matter that only concerns Ukraine and the 30 NATO allies, it should not be decided by other countries,” Psaki stressed on Tuesday.

The United States is willing to hold talks on “the location of missiles in Europe” or the imposition of “reciprocal limits on military exercises,” the spokeswoman added.

The talks will resume on Wednesday in Brussels, at the first meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in more than two years, focused on security issues in Europe and, especially, the situation in and around Ukraine, but also military activities, transparency reciprocal and risk reduction.

The dialogue will continue on Thursday in Vienna, where the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meets, and in Brest (France), at the informal meeting of the European Union’s Foreign and Defense Ministers.

Invasion threat continues

The United States continues to see the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine as real as it did in November when it denounced the concentration of large numbers of Russian troops on the border, reported John Sullivan, the US ambassador.

“We consider this to be a real threat. And at the moment we do not observe any de-escalation, “he told the Ukrainian television channel” Dozhd “.

Sullivan stressed that the situation has not changed since the visit to Moscow in November of the head of the CIA, William Burns, “to express his concern” about the border tensions between Russians and Ukrainians.

“We have a serious problem in Ukraine. The situation is exacerbated by the massive mobilization of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine. In the United States this creates the feeling of an emergency situation, ”he said.