NATO-Russia Meeting Ends Empty-Handed... "Difficult to Narrow Differences"

Russia "Cannot Accept NATO Expansion"
US "Claims to Negotiate but Conducts Live-Fire Drills, Ununderstandable"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The security talks between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia aimed at resolving the Ukraine crisis ended without any significant progress. Following the earlier bilateral talks between the United States and Russia, the meeting only reaffirmed the differences between the West and Russia. However, both sides agreed to continue future talks, suggesting that attempts to find a diplomatic breakthrough will persist.

On the 12th (local time), the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) held a security meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, to address the Ukraine border dispute. This was the first NRC meeting since July 2019. The meeting was chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with representatives from Russia and delegations from NATO's 30 member countries attending. Wendy Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State who led the U.S. delegation in the previous U.S.-Russia talks, also participated as the U.S. representative.

According to the Associated Press, the meeting, originally scheduled for one hour, lasted four hours but ended without finding common ground due to significant differences between the two sides. NATO proposed arms control negotiations to prevent armed conflict, but Russia neither accepted nor rejected the proposal, stating that it needed time to respond.

Secretary General Stoltenberg said at a press conference after the meeting, "It is not easy to narrow the differences between NATO and Russia," adding, "The fact that NATO and Russia sat at the same table to discuss is a positive sign." He emphasized, "We agreed to continue consultations going forward."

Russia reiterated its previous stance from the bilateral talks with the United States, emphasizing the need for assurances to prevent NATO's expansion. Alexander Grushko, Deputy Foreign Minister and Russia's representative at the meeting, warned at a press conference, "NATO expansion is a security threat that Russia cannot tolerate," and "Further deterioration of the situation will have serious consequences for European security."

The United States strongly criticized Russia. Deputy Secretary Sherman said at a press conference, "I do not understand why nuclear-armed Russia feels threatened by much smaller Ukraine, nor why it conducts live-fire exercises near the Ukrainian border while negotiating," adding, "Such actions will not help diplomatic resolution in the slightest."

Accordingly, it is expected to be difficult to find common ground between the West and Russia in future follow-up talks. The series of talks between the West and Russia is scheduled to continue on the 13th in Vienna, Austria, with negotiations between the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Russia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.