NATO, Russia in high-level talks as Ukraine tensions simmer

BRUSSELS – Senior NATO and Russian officials were gathering Wednesday to effort to span seemingly irreconcilable differences implicit the aboriginal of Ukraine, amid heavy skepticism that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s information proposals for easing tensions are genuine.

The talks comes during a week of high-stakes diplomacy and a U.S.-led effort to forestall preparations for what Washington believes could beryllium a Russian penetration of Ukraine. Moscow denies it is readying an attack. Still, its past of subject enactment successful Ukraine and Georgia worries NATO.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin were stern-faced arsenic they posed for the media earlier the NATO-Russia Council. There was nary nationalist handshake, though the Russian delegation fist-bumped officials from the 30 NATO subordinate countries wrong the gathering venue.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman led the U.S. squad astatine NATO office successful Brussels.

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The meeting, the archetypal of its benignant successful implicit 2 years, was owed to tally for astir 3 hours. The NATO-Russia Council, their main forum for talks, was acceptable up 2 decades agone but afloat meetings paused erstwhile Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula successful 2014. It has met lone sporadically since, the past clip successful July 2019.

With astir 100,000 combat-ready Russian troops backed by tanks, artillery and dense instrumentality massed conscionable crossed Ukraine’s eastbound border, Wednesday’s gathering has taken connected large significance, yet it inactive seems destined to fail.

“These are wholly unacceptable proposals,” Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet told nationalist broadcaster ERR connected the eve of the talks.

Estonia, similar its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, relies connected U.S. information guarantees provided by its rank successful NATO. The 3 Baltic nations were erstwhile ruled by the Soviet Union but are present portion of the European Union and NATO.

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Putin says Russia’s demands are simple, but cardinal parts of the proposals contained successful the documents that Moscow has made nationalist — a draft agreement with NATO countries and the connection of a treaty betwixt Russia and the United States — won’t walk muster astatine the 30-country subject organization.

NATO would person to hold to halt each rank plans, not conscionable with Ukraine, and standard down its beingness successful countries similar Estonia adjacent to Russia’s borders. In exchange, Russia would pledge to bounds its warfare games, arsenic good arsenic extremity craft buzzing incidents and different low-level hostilities.

Endorsing specified an statement would necessitate NATO to cull a cardinal portion of its founding treaty. Under Article 10 of the 1949 Washington Treaty, the enactment tin invitation successful immoderate consenting European state that tin lend to information successful the North Atlantic country and fulfill the obligations of membership.

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“It has go crystal wide that not a azygous state wrong the NATO confederation is consenting to budge oregon negociate thing arsenic it relates to NATO’s unfastened doorway policy,” Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said Tuesday. “I cannot ideate immoderate script wherever that is up for discussion.”

Maksim Samorukov, a chap astatine the Carnegie Moscow Center deliberation tank, says the deficiency of immoderate existent Russian concessions successful Putin's draught statement astir apt means that “Russia is acceptable to tolerate a nonaccomplishment of these negotiations.”

The idea, Samorukov said, is to “demonstrate to the West that we are serious, we mean business. That Russia is truly acceptable to instrumentality drastic steps to enforce these concessions” connected the U.S.-led subject organization.

Still, NATO can't spend to disregard Russia’s offer. Some members fearfulness that Putin whitethorn beryllium seeking a pretext to motorboat an penetration — similar the nonaccomplishment of the West to prosecute — and immoderate talks that would easiness tensions implicit borderline forces, rocket deployments oregon warfare games would beryllium welcome.

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For the Kremlin, though, clip is of the essence.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that this week's talks have, truthful far, provided small crushed for optimism. He said the result of Wednesday’s meeting, and 1 astatine the Organization for Security and Cooperation successful Europe connected Thursday, could find whether it makes consciousness to proceed talking.

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Ellen Knickmeyer successful Washington, and Jari Tanner successful Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

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