The United States promised to send written responses to the Russian side next week to its demands for “security guarantees.” This was announced at a press conference in Geneva on Friday, January 21, by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after negotiations with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. “Anthony Blinken told me that he is satisfied with the exchange of views that took place, which will help them next week, it was already emphasized several times, to provide us with a written reaction,” said Lavrov, who generally assessed the dialogue with the head of the US State Department as “useful and frank”.
The negotiations between Blinken and Lavrov lasted an hour and a half
Blinken and Lavrov concluded their talks before the Russian news agencies announced, according to which the meeting was scheduled for two hours. In turn, Sergei Lavrov explained: “We planned this meeting for an hour and a half, because it was approximately clear to us what we would discuss.” Before the talks began, Blinken and Lavrov made it clear that they did not expect a breakthrough. At the end of the conversation, both held separate press conferences.
In recent weeks, a whole series of international meetings on Ukraine has already taken place, but they have not made it possible to achieve significant detente. Russia has deployed up to 100,000 troops to the border of Ukraine and is demanding legally binding guarantees from NATO not to accept this country into its membership. The North Atlantic Alliance calls these demands unacceptable, emphasizing that NATO’s doors will remain open to new members.
In the event of a new invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, the West threatens Moscow with unprecedented sanctions.
See also:
