Ukraine Dialogue Begins Today, Russia: We Will Not Make Concessions Under US Pressure

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. (Wikimedia Commons/Balk MSC)

JAKARTA - Russia said on Sunday it would not make concessions under pressure from the United States, warning that talks this week on the Ukraine crisis may end prematurely. Meanwhile, Washington said no breakthrough was expected and progress hinged on de-escalation from Moscow.

The hard line from Moscow underscores the fragile prospects for negotiations that Washington hopes will prevent the danger of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the tensest point in US-Russian relations since the Cold War ended three decades ago.

The two countries are set to hold talks starting this Monday in Geneva before moving to Brussels and Vienna, but state-run news agency RIA quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying it was very likely diplomacy could end after one meeting.

"I can't rule anything out, this is a completely possible scenario and America should have no illusions about this," he said.

"Of course, we will not make concessions under pressure or amid persistent threats from the participants of the talks," said Ryabkov, who will lead the Russian delegation in Geneva.

Ryabkov told reporters that his meeting with Sherman was 'complex but business. Moscow is not optimistic about entering the talks, said Interfax's new Russia office.

Meanwhile, a similar situation is also reflected in the United States side, with comments made by Foreign Minister Antony Blinken.

"I don't think we're going to see a breakthrough in the coming week," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a CNN interview.

Responding to Russia's demands for Western security guarantees, the United States and its allies said they were ready to discuss the possibility of each side limiting military exercises, as well as missile deployments in the region.

According to Foreign Minister Blinken, both parties will submit proposals and then see if there is a reason to move forward.

"To make real progress, it's really hard to see that happening when there's an ongoing escalation, when Russia is pointing a gun at Ukraine with 100,000 troops near its border," Blinken said in an interview with ABC News.

Ahead of official talks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Ryabkov on Sunday in Geneva, telling him Washington "would welcome genuine progress through diplomacy," the State Department said.

Tens of thousands of Russian troops are amassed within reach of the border with Ukraine in preparation for what Washington and Kyiv value could be an invasion, eight years after Russia seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

Ryabkov's comments from Russia, comparing the situation to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 when the world was on the brink of nuclear war, are consistent with the no-compromise line Russia has signaled for weeks.

Russia, however, denies an invasion plan and says it is responding to what it calls the aggressive and provocative behavior of the NATO and Ukraine military alliance, which has leaned towards the West and aspires to join NATO.

To note, apart from the Geneva talks, Russia will also hold negotiations with NATO in Brussels on Wednesday and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on Thursday.