US Ambassador To Russia Says Washington-Moscow Security Talks Productive

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th January, 2022) The security talks between Russia and the United States in Geneva were productive, and it doesn't yet look like the sides are moving toward failure, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Russian and American delegations led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, respectively, held closed consultations on Moscow's security proposals.

A failure might occur after all, but the ambassador doesn't think the talks are going that way now, he said in an interview for the Russian outlet Dozhd (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent). The American official added that the eight-hour long dialogue was not just a display of each side's positions.

Sullivan said discussion between the countries was productive, and the sides talked not only about strategic security, but security in Europe as well, and prospects of the accession of new member countries to NATO.

The ambassador stressed that the US wants to interact with Russia and supposes that the best way to do it is through closed discussions, as on Monday.

A meeting of the Russia-NATO Council will take place in Brussels on Wednesday, and the following day, a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council will be held in Vienna.

Russia published draft agreements on security guarantees for NATO and the US in late 2021. Moscow requested, in particular, guarantees that the alliance would no expand eastward. Russia also suggested that NATO should not admit Ukraine and form military bases in post-Soviet countries.