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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is already in Geneva to begin talks with the United States on Ukraine. Photo/Russia Today
The talks took place amid fears of a Russian invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
“These talks are difficult, they cannot be easy,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the state news agency Interfax after meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman during a dinner on Sunday in Geneva.
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“I think tomorrow we will not waste time,” said Ryabkov, adding that he never lost optimism.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Russia to stay away from aggression and choose a diplomatic path as the Kremlin, which faces intense pressure to withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s borders, demands broad new security arrangements with the West.
Ahead of the talks, Ryabkov said Moscow was disappointed by the signals coming from Washington and from Brussels, where NATO and the European Union are headquartered.
“There are avenues of dialogue and diplomacy to try to resolve some of these differences,” Blinken told CNN.
The Kremlin insisted NATO could not grant membership to Ukraine, a Soviet breakaway country, which pushed itself to join.
Blinken warned that any positive outcome of these talks would depend in part on Russia’s willingness to back down from its aggressive stance. – .
