US-Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue takes place in Geneva
Europe, News, US January 11, 2022 1 Comment on US-Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue takes place in GenevaU.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in Geneva on January 10.
During the meeting, Lt. Gen. James Mingus also represented the U.S. side while Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov was accompanied by the Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Gen. Aleksandr Fomin.
The meeting was part of the U.S.-Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue (SSD). The two delegations discussed the issues related to the evolving security situation and concerns about Russia’s military deployment at the Ukrainian border.
The meeting comes a day before Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council’s meeting in Brussels, which is focused on finding a resolution for the NATO-Russia dispute.
The representatives from the U.S. raised their concerns about Russia’s military deployment and missile placements near the Ukrainian border. NATO coalition members and its allies have expressed fears about invasion following Russia’s deployment of 100,000 soldiers along the Ukrainian border.
The U.S. delegation warned the Russian side that if Moscow further invades Ukraine, the consequences can be far more devastating than those in 2014. Sherman mentioned that further increment in the military pressure at the border would be seen as an attempt of invasion and it would lead to the implementation of financial and diplomatic sanctions on Russia.
In the post-meeting press briefing, Deputy Secretary Sherman said that this meeting was termed as an Extraordinary Strategic Stability Dialogue because the dialogue between the two sides took place without any pre-dialogue experts’ meeting. Sherman also stated that the U.S. is always ready to resolve the matter through table talks and that we expect the same from the Russian side.
This was the third time that the delegations from U.S and Russia have met under the Strategic Stability Dialogue (SSD) since President Putin and President Joe Biden met in Geneva to lay the grounds for these dialogues in June 2021.
In December 2021, Biden and Putin held phone talks twice in one month to discuss the security concerns related to the military escalation at the Ukrainian border. The U.S. has proposed that any further deployment, procurement, and usage of missiles along the European border should follow the rules of the INF Treaty.
Russia on the other hand has always taken a firm stance to justify its military deployment at the Ukrainian border claiming it to be a defensive measure, which is aimed at stopping NATO forces’ movement towards the east.
A few weeks earlier when Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about Russia’s stance on the matter, he stated that Russia is not the one who is deploying missiles at foreign borders, in fact, it is the U.S. and its European allies that are breaching our agreements and setting up missiles near our border. Putin further said that “How would the Americans react if missiles were placed at the border with Canada or Mexico?”
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The Russian administration also provided a security proposal to deescalate the security situation with NATO that consists of several demands including an immediate stop at NATO’s movement towards the east as well as a halt on adding further members into the NATO alliance. The proposal was rejected by the U.S. and its allies which lead to a further increase in tensions and both sides agreed to hold security dialogues to solve the issue.
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