Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his US counterpart Joe Biden that he is "convinced" that
an "effective dialogue" between Moscow and Washington is possible
. The Russian leader took advantage
of the Christmas greeting messages to send a positive message hours before the telephone talk between the two while
tensions over Ukraine continue. Kremlin spokesman
Dimitri Peskov
assured reporters that
Moscow is "receptive to having a conversation."
Washington has been warning since November about Russian troop movements near Ukraine, accusing Russia of planning an invasion of its neighbor in winter. Moscow has denied the accusation but
has launched a campaign for the West to accept the broad security demands
it made earlier this month: that NATO
should
not
admit new members and that the United States cannot establish more military bases in the former Soviet republics. The reaction from NATO leaders so far has been markedly negative, but Biden has yet to speak clearly on the issue.
"It appears that Moscow has begun to review its 'strategic patience' in relations with the West and Ukraine after NATO
decided to grant Ukraine the status of Expanded Opportunity Partner in June 2020," said
Vladimir Frolov
, an
expert on relations
this week.
international events at the Carnegie Moscow Center. In fact in
Kiev began to entertain the idea of achieving
'main ally' status
among 'non-members' of the alliance. This would remove virtually all restrictions on military cooperation with the Americans.
ADVANCE IN THE DIALOGUE
"I am convinced that we can move forward and establish an effective Russian-American dialogue based on mutual respect and consideration of the interests of others," Putin said, according to a
Kremlin statement outlining the Christmas messages to world leaders.
The Russian leader denies having plans to attack Ukraine
and
blames NATO for the current military tension due to its expansion ever closer to Russian territory. But the Russian leader has not put concessions on the table in exchange for the
military and political
constraints
he would like to impose on the NATO countries and Ukraine.
"Stopping the expansion of NATO would allow Moscow and Kiev to have direct talks on a conclusive resolution of the conflict," notes Frolov.
NATO could never agree to a "closed doors" policy,
but "if the US leadership pushed for it, maybe it could negotiate on a change in language," says
Henrik Larsen
, who was the EU's political adviser in Ukraine. from 2014 to 2019.
23 days ago there was a videoconference of both leaders in which Biden warned that he would respond to a possible Russian attack on Ukraine "with strong economic measures" that could include the
suspension of the
planned
Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
to transport gas from Russia to German territory.
The telephone conversation between the two - the call was made at the request of Moscow - is considered the prelude to the meetings between Russia and the United States in Geneva on January 10. After that,
a meeting between Moscow and NATO is scheduled
for
January
12
, followed by another summit on January 13 in which Russia, the United States and other European countries will participate.
Shortly before the call,
Antony Blinken
, US Secretary of State, had a telephone conversation with
Volodimir
Zelensky
, the president of Ukraine.
Blinken reiterated the "unwavering support of the United States for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the former Soviet republic.
Washington is ready to bolster Ukraine's military defense in the event of a Russian invasion, a hypothesis that has caused concern in the West in recent weeks and is denied by the Kremlin.
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