During a video interview, Tuesday, December 7, the US and Russian presidents exposed their positions. The Kremlin has renewed its criticism against the growing influence of NATO in its neighborhood.
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“No charged fingers”, according to Washington. “There has been room for jokes and an exchange of compliments”, ensures the Kremlin. The video interview between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, held Tuesday, December 7, allowed for an undetermined time to restore the primacy to diplomacy.
While Russian military mobilization at the gates of Ukraine still raises serious concerns, the two presidents each exposed their expectations. Is this availability for dialogue a simple one-off gesture, or the first step of progressive de-escalation? On the merits, the positions seem always irreconcilable.
Russia has renewed its criticism against the growing influence of NATO in its neighborhood and the aspirations of Ukraine to join the Atlantic Alliance, a “red line” in his eyes. Not surprisingly, Vladimir Putin claimed “legal guarantees” excluding both an extension east of NATO and the deployment of advanced arming systems. The two leaders agreed, according to Kremlin’s statement, for their advisers to conduct consultations on these “sensitive issues”.
For Moscow, it is an important first step, which amounts to recognizing the legitimacy of Russian concerns. The result is certainly not spectacular, but after the dramatization of the last days, the Russian officials warned that there would be no decisive progress from Tuesday night.
Russian President, who was in Sochi, at the edge of the Black Sea, seemed to do little of the threats of Western penalties, broken in this practice since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. “Russian soldiers Are on their territory, they do not threaten anyone, “said the Kremlin Diplomatic Advisor, Iuri Ouchakov. According to the latter, Vladimir Putin would have said to his counterpart, as a conclusion: “You, the Americans, you worry about our battalions, in Russian territory, to thousands of kilometers from the United States. But we, We are very concerned about our own security. “
Russian President has also been ready to standardize working conditions for both diplomatic representations, Moscow and Washington. A subject that Joe Biden willingly delegates at the level of experts, on both sides.
Washington Attachment to Ukrainian Sovereignty
In Washington, the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, introduced himself to the cameras and journalists, in the press room of the White House, to evoke the interview, which lasted two time. Refusing to speculate on Russian intentions, nor address the details of the measures envisaged by the US administration, however, posed in clear terms the alternative of the coming weeks. The first option available to the Kremlin is that of diplomatic communication. This is the “alternative way”, according to Jake Sullivan, allowing to lower the tension.
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