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 By Jonathan Brown with Shaun Tandon in Washington Moscow (AFP) Dec 17, 2021
Russia on Friday unveiled proposals to contain the United States and NATO in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, calling for urgent negotiations with Washington as it amasses forces near Ukraine. The United States said it was ready to talk but stated upfront that it disagreed with much in the far-reaching proposals, as it renewed warnings of painful reprisals if Russia invades Ukraine. Russia released unfinished security documents -- an unusual move in diplomacy -- that call for US-led NATO alliance not to bring in new members or establish bases in ex-Soviet countries. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was ready to hold security talks with the United States as early as Saturday. "We are ready to immediately, even tomorrow -- literally tomorrow, on Saturday -- go for talks with the US in a third country," he told reporters, suggesting Geneva as a venue. President Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said the United States was "fundamentally prepared for dialogue" and would coordinate closely with European allies. "Russia has now put on the table its concerns with American and NATO activities; we're going to put on the table our concern with Russian activities that we think harm our interests and values," Sullivan said at the Council on Foreign Relations. "That's the basis of reciprocity upon which you would pursue any kind of dialogue." Another US official told reporters that the United States would respond "sometime next week" on a format for talks and said that Russia should already know that parts of the proposal will be "unacceptable" to Washington. "If there is any further aggression against Ukraine, that will have massive, massive consequences and will carry a high price," the official said. - 'Prevent incidents' - The West says Moscow has readied some 100,000 troops near Ukraine, which has been battling a pro-Moscow insurgency in its east since 2014. Sullivan said the United States does not assess that President Vladimir Putin, who blames NATO for the rise in tensions, has made a decision on whether to invade. The Russian draft document addressed to NATO says its members should "commit themselves to refrain from further enlargement, including the accession of Ukraine as well as other states". It also insists that alliance members not conduct military activity in Ukraine or other countries in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Moscow and NATO, the document said, should limit the deployment of missiles, set up an emergency telephone hotline and also work to "prevent incidents" in the Baltics and the Black Sea. The draft said Washington should block NATO membership of any former Soviet country -- a reference to Ukraine as well as Georgia, which have both infuriated Moscow after Western tilts. The United States and European countries have kept the door open but also made clear that Ukraine's membership in NATO is not on the cards, much to Kiev's annoyance. - 'Impossible' demands - In the draft, Russia said the United States should agree not to establish military bases in ex-Soviet states, including in Central Asia, which Moscow sees as its backyard and sphere of influence. The United States leaned heavily on military facilities in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to coordinate operations in Afghanistan, where it recently withdrew troops after two decades. Political analyst Konstantin Kalachev described Russia's list of demands as "unrealistic and impossible" for the United States and NATO to meet. These "spheres of influence are a thing of the past". US President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June, with the two leaders agreeing to seek more stable relations, but Western powers have also stood firm on backing Ukraine amid the war that has claimed 13,000 lives since 2014. Biden has warned Putin of "sanctions like he's never seen" if an offensive is launched. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a call Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, vowed to use all "diplomatic and economic powers" to prevent any aggression by Moscow. Washington helps train Ukrainian forces and has committed more than $2.5 billion to bolster a military that crumbled in the face of Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. A former KGB agent and loyal servant of the Soviet Union, Putin was dismayed when it fell apart, once calling the collapse "the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century".
US says will discuss Russia proposals but warns on Ukraine "We are prepared to discuss them. That said, there are some things in this document that the Russians know will be unacceptable," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. The official said the United States expected to respond to the Russians "sometime next week with a more concrete proposal" on talks after consulting with European allies, which the United States insists need to be part of any discussions. Russia took the unusual step of presenting draft agreements on security amid mounting concerns over its amassing of tens of thousands of troops by the Ukrainian border. The US official renewed a warning that the West would not tolerate an invasion, which would come after seven years of a Russian-supported insurgency in eastern Ukraine. "If there is any further aggression against Ukraine, that will have massive, massive consequences and will carry a high price," the official said. She said that any retaliation would consist "largely" of economic measures. But she warned: "We are prepared to consider a number of things that we had not considered in the past, and the results will be very profound on the Russian Federation."
UK says 'highly unlikely' to send troops to Ukraine Britain and fellow G7 nations this week warned Moscow of "massive consequences" if it invades the former Soviet state but Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday that it would explore "diplomatic and economic" means to counter Russian "aggression". "It is not a member of NATO so it is highly unlikely that anyone is going to send troops into Ukraine to challenge Russia," Wallace told the magazine in an interview this week. "We shouldn't kid people we would. The Ukrainians are aware of that," he added. Wallace said Britain could help Ukraine "with capacity building" adding that threats of "severe economic sanctions" were the most likely form of deterrent. He floated the possibility of cutting Russia off from the Swift international payment network. The West says Moscow has readied some 100,000 troops near Ukraine, which has been battling a pro-Moscow insurgency in its east since 2014, but does not yet know whether Putin has made a decision on whether to invade. "We aren't sure that he has made a decision but nevertheless his actions and his military preparations indicate that way... I think we should all be worried," said Wallace.
'Accommodation?': East Europe worries over Ukraine diplomacy Warsaw (AFP) Dec 16, 2021 Alongside the concerns about Russia's military build-up on the border of Ukraine, regional states worry about a possible stitch-up between major powers that could turn the clock back. For countries once ruled from Moscow, US President Joe Biden's comments last week about seeking a possible "accommodation" between Russia and major NATO powers have had a chilling effect. It was "a significant and important slip-up" that "sent very mixed messages to Russia", said Michal Baranowski, director of the ... read more
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