Veteran US and Russian diplomats face tensions in Ukraine by Geneva Reuters

By Simon Lewis and Mark Trevelyan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Talks between US and Russian diplomats will begin on Monday in Geneva after a week-long halt to the deployment of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine, with veteran envoys on either side trying to avert the crisis.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the second official of the US State Department, will be addressed by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Together, they have more than half a century of diplomatic experience.

Russia, which has deployed nearly 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine, says it is not preparing for an invasion, but wants the West to back away from Ukrainian government support and stop the expansion of NATO’s military alliance eastward.

Washington has already dismissed some of Moscow’s demands as unfeasible, and Russia has struggled to make the rapid progress it wants in its meetings.

An additional wrinkle is the fact that Russia is sending troops this week to quell protests against the government in neighboring Kazakhstan, raising concerns in Washington.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news conference on Wednesday that the US approach would be “pragmatic, results-oriented”. “We don’t answer them point by point.”

In a phone call between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin last week, Biden reiterated that the US and European allies would impose unprecedented sanctions if Russia decides to invade Ukraine. Putin responded that the punishment could lead to a “complete rupture of ties.”

Ryabkov told the Izvestia newspaper this week that Russia’s approach was necessarily tough because previous attempts at persuasion had been fruitless.

Ryabkov reiterated Moscow’s call for a halt to NATO deployment, a ban on the deployment of its weapons systems in Ukraine, and an end to “provocative” military exercises.

“All of these are integral elements that are absolutely necessary, and without them we will be forced to point out that the other side is showing a lack of cooperation,” he said.

Other officials will also play a key role in the talks, which will take place in Brussels on Wednesday between NATO and Russia and on Thursday at a meeting of the European Security and Cooperation Organization.

Sherman and Ryabkov will lead the two delegations in Geneva, where they are conducting talks on Ukraine at a meeting initially scheduled as a Strategic Stability Dialogue between the two opponents. Regular talks designed to deal with the possibility of a nuclear confrontation resumed in July, following a meeting between Biden and Putin last month.

Thomas Graham (NYSE :), a former Russian director general of the White House National Security Council, said Sherman and Ryabkov had a lot of experience and would lead the talks professionally, understanding that the task is to calm the current crisis.

“There will be no voice raising or knocking on the table,” said Graham, now a prominent member of the Foreign Affairs Council. He said the positive result for the US would be to agree on a more negotiated program with Russia.

Andrey Kortunov, an analyst at Russia’s International Affairs Council, said the Kremlin would be enough to reduce tensions with some measures and restrictions to build confidence in the West to supply modern weapons in Ukraine.

VETERAN DIPLOMA

Sherman, 72, a former social worker, has served in the Democratic administration since the 1990s. He is best known for leading negotiations on the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, for his dealings with Russian diplomats.

Sherman, like the deal itself, was criticized by hawks in Washington for being too soft on Iran. In Iran, anti-American protesters allegedly shouted “Death Sherman” in the negotiations.

In his previous post as Secretary of State, Sherman traveled to Kiev in March 2014, where he talked about holding back tears as he passed through the Maidan, a Ukrainian-backed government that had overthrown the Russian-backed government.

Sherman said Moscow said instead of approaching the “school children” behind the protests, they were approaching “children with flowers” and warned Putin that he had taken over Crimea and the Russian-backed separatist conflict in the Donbass region.

Ryabkov, 61, is a 40-year veteran of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Ministries, and has delivered some of Moscow’s harshest speeches and harshest warnings about the Ukraine crisis in recent weeks.

He has repeatedly compared the situation to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the world approached the nuclear war, and warned that Russia may be forced to deploy medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe.

Kortunov, who has known Ryabkov for years, said the diplomat was more disturbed than some members of the Russian security establishment, but that the Kremlin would be flexible or rigid enough.

“In the end, it’s up to Mr. Putin to define the red lines, not Ryabkov, and Ryabkov will do everything he can to articulate the red lines,” Kortunov said.