Russian and US flags in the hall of the President Hotel in GenevaMOSCOW, 22 Jan. The absence of ultimatums and the «conciliatory tone» at the talks between Anthony Blinken and Sergey Lavrov allow us to timidly hope for a thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington. This was stated by the authors of the American newspaper The New York Times. Emphasizing that the very fact of the meeting speaks of opportunities for establishing contacts, the authors of the article noted that the position of the US Secretary of State on dialogue with Moscow does not coincide with the opinion of President Joe Biden.
The political scientist assessed the outcome of the meeting between Blinken and Lavrov «Both sides are trying to contain tensions and give diplomacy time to play its part. And the longer terms of negotiations contrasted with the comments of Biden, who two days earlier said that, in his opinion, Putin is ready to use military force,” said the journalists of the publication. In their opinion, Blinken’s statement that the United States would provide Russia with a written response to demands for security guarantees was the clearest and most unequivocal outcome of the negotiations. Journalists cited high-ranking US officials as saying that the Russian side requested a written response to their proposals specifically for the Russian president. «They believe that Putin wants to see the specific position of America with his own eyes,» the authors noted. The publication also claims that the leader of the American negotiating delegation is hopeful about the dialogue with his Russian counterpart. «Blinken expressed some optimism. According to a senior State Department official, while driving to meet Lavrov at a hotel on the waterfront, Blinken noticed high waves on the stormy Lake Geneva and told his colleagues that he hoped the meeting would calm the waters.
British Foreign Secretary Truss will come to Moscow for talks with LavrovAt the end of 2021, Russia published draft treaties with the United States and agreements with NATO on security guarantees. Moscow, in particular, demands from its Western partners legal guarantees of refusing further expansion of NATO to the east, from joining the bloc of Ukraine and from creating military bases in post-Soviet countries. The first round of negotiations on this topic took place in Geneva on January 10. It was followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels. After that, on January 13, consultations were held at the Vienna site of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The day before, the heads of the diplomatic departments of Russia and the United States held a meeting in Geneva. Lavrov called the conversation useful and frank, and the US Secretary of State promised to provide a written response to the proposals for security guarantees next week. in Geneva by a frank exchange of ideas
