Ukraine and Russia agreed on Wednesday in Paris to maintain the ceasefire and return to talks in two weeks, in dialogue with representatives of Germany and France, while the United States and NATO delivered written proposals to Moscow in order to avoid an eventual Russian invasion. to your neighbor.
The talks in the French capital “were not easy” but, “despite all the differences of interpretation”, the delegates agreed that “all parties must maintain the ceasefire” in eastern Ukraine, the Russian envoy reported, Dmitri Kozak, at a press conference.
“We need an additional pause; we hope that this process will have results in two weeks,” added the spokesman, after the eight-hour meeting with diplomats from Ukraine, Germany and France, according to the AFP news agency.
“We want to maintain this dialogue,” said the Ukrainian representative, Andrii Yermak, adding that Wednesday’s declaration “is the first significant document” that the parties managed to agree on “since December 2019.”
In addition, The four countries – which make up the Normandy Quartet, created in 2014 to seek a solution to the crisis in Ukraine – ratified in a joint statement their support for the Minsk peace agreements “as a basis for work” and promised to try ” mitigate” dissent.
“We hope that our interlocutors understand our arguments and that in two weeks we will achieve results,” the Russian spokesman stressed.
Kozak argued that the situation in eastern Ukraine – where pro-Russian separatists proclaimed two republics in 2014 – and the tension on the border are “two different issues.”
The next meeting of the Normandy Quartet will be held in Berlin and also at the level of diplomatic advisers, since a meeting of leaders “is not on the agenda,” according to Kozak.
Wednesday’s meeting sought to reduce tension after a series of talks between Russia and the United States, which accuses Moscow of preparing an imminent attack on Ukraine after having deployed thousands of soldiers on the border with this country, despite the fact that Kiev ruled out the Monday that possibility.
“Everything indicates that (Russian) President Vladimir Putin will use military force at some point, perhaps between now and mid-February,” US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman insisted.
However, Ukraine’s Defense Minister and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexei Reznikov and Alexei Danilov agreed on Monday that their government had no indication of an “imminent attack” by Russia.
At the same time, the United States and NATO delivered their written proposals to Moscow on Wednesday to avoid what they consider an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, the three parties confirmed, according to the Europa Press agency.
Washington rejected in its note the possibility of denying Ukraine’s entry into NATO, as the Kremlin intends, but offered in return “a serious diplomatic channel if Russia wishes” to negotiate a solution to the crisis, revealed the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“We have made it clear that there are basic principles that we are determined to uphold and uphold, including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances,” Blinken told a news conference in the American capital.
The official, who assured that he is willing to meet “in the next few days” with his Russian colleague, Serguei Lavrov, clarified that the proposal would not be made public because he believes that “diplomacy has more chances of success.”
However, he maintained that the document “reiterates what Washington has been saying publicly for weeks, and in a certain sense for many years,” and that is that it defends “the principle of the open door in NATO.”
We also “discussed the possibility of reciprocal transparency measures regarding our military postures, as well as confidence-enhancing measures regarding military exercises and maneuvers in Europe,” Blinken added.
In the note, prepared in coordination with Ukraine and its European allies, The United States also proposed relaunching negotiations with Russia on arms control., especially in relation to strategic missiles and nuclear weapons stationed in Europe.
NATO’s proposal has a volume similar to that of the United States, according to what the bloc’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said at a press conference in Brussels.
“We have made it clear that we do not compromise the right of any nation to seek NATO membership” and the progress of the negotiations to avoid an escalation of the crisis “depends on whether there is a willingness to compromise in good faith and try to sit down and find common ground,” he said.
Stoltenberg assured that the NATO proposal was “negotiated and agreed” by all its members and warned that if Moscow does not attend to it, the alliance is prepared to deploy its immediate response force, made up of some 5,000 troops, “in a matter of days”. of various nationalities.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Kiev, in a message on its website, urged US citizens to leave Ukraine “from now on” because the “security situation” in this country “remains unpredictable due to the growing threat of Russian military action and may deteriorate without warning.
Washington had already announced on Sunday the withdrawal of some diplomats and their families, in a move that was followed by the United Kingdom on Monday and Canada on Tuesday, and which the Ukrainian authorities considered “premature” and “excessive”.
The war in eastern Ukraine, which left more than 13,000 dead, originated in 2014, from a pro-Western outbreak in Kiev and the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea by Moscow.
Since the 2015 Minsk agreements, the front line has stabilized and the fighting has subsided, but the political solution to the conflict is stalled.
