Small-scale Russian-American negotiations are being held in Geneva this evening, on the eve of the launch of expanded negotiations tomorrow on the Ukrainian crisis and Moscow's demands for security guarantees from the West.
Al-Jazeera correspondent reported the arrival of the Russian delegation, comprising representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense, to Geneva.
Prior to today's session, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Washington is about to test the proposal regarding the path that President Putin is ready to take, stressing that they will listen "to Russia's concerns and they should listen to ours."
He expressed his belief that progress could be made in addressing concerns on both sides, which would reduce tensions if Moscow was acting in good faith.
He added, "I think that Russia is trying to revive the old Soviet Union, and this is one of President Putin's goals and to re-exercise influence over the countries that were part of the union, and this is unacceptable."
Earlier, Blinken said he did not expect breakthroughs in talks with Russia.
A US State Department spokesman confirmed that Blinken told a European official that it was important to support Ukraine's territorial integrity, and that any new Russian aggression would lead to a harsh response, as he described it.
For his part, a US administration official expressed Washington's readiness to discuss contentious issues with Moscow during the Geneva round of negotiations tomorrow.
But the US official stressed at the same time that Washington is not ready to discuss imposing restrictions on the deployment of US forces, or on the status of these forces in NATO countries in the region.
Russia's demands
On the other hand, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, "We will resort to other means to ensure balance if we do not reach an agreement on security guarantees."
He considered that NATO could no longer deprive Russia of a secondary position in European and international politics.
Earlier in the day, Ryabkov said that Russia is heading to Geneva with a clear mission, which is to obtain the guarantees it demands.
He added that Moscow will not make any concessions, regardless of the threats and pressures that he said the West constantly exerts.
The Russian official played down the possibility of the success of these talks, noting that his country was disappointed with the indications issued by Washington and Brussels ahead of the mentioned Geneva meetings.
The United States and Russia are seeking, in their talks, which begin this evening in Geneva, to defuse the explosive crisis over Ukraine, as well as seek to bring seemingly impossible to reconcile views on security in Europe, a day before the main talks between the two sides.
Western countries - and Kiev as well - accuse Russia of mobilizing about 100,000 soldiers at the borders of Ukraine, in preparation for a possible invasion.
And threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with "enormous" and unprecedented sanctions if he attacked his neighbour.
The Kremlin asserts that the West is provoking Russia by deploying military forces on its borders or by arming the Ukrainian army that is fighting pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass, eastern Ukraine. alliance.
US President Joe Biden had previously warned that Russia would face dire economic consequences if the Russian president invaded Ukraine, and US officials on Saturday provided more details of the tough sanctions that could be imposed.
One of the limitations, according to a source familiar with the plan, could target important Russian industrial sectors, including defense and civil aviation, and this will permanently affect Russia's ambitions in high-tech fields such as artificial intelligence.
Russia may be added to a group of countries that face severe restrictions, for the purposes of controlling exports, namely Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria, according to the source.