President Joe Biden’s administration has “incorporated” Ukrainian government views into a forthcoming written response to Russia’s ominous demand for a ban on NATO expansion and a contraction of trans-Atlantic security arrangements from Eastern Europe.
“We have not only informed them and given them a preview of what will be in this report, but we have actually explicitly solicited their feedback and incorporated that feedback into our report,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Tuesday at the State Department. “So there will be no surprises.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken committed last week to provide a written response to a so-called draft treaty that Russian officials unveiled days prior to Christmas, a document that some U.S. and European policymakers regarded as a “pretext for war.” U.S. officials have gestured toward a negotiation over some provisions of the Russian proposal, without seeming to make any public concessions related to NATO expansion and security cooperation, which Russian officials portray as the “cornerstone” of their demands.
“NATO’s door must always remain open to those aspirant countries that fulfill [membership] requirements,” Price said. “We’ve been very clear about the areas in which there may be some utility and where progress can be achieved when it comes to enhancing trans-Atlantic security, when it comes to enhancing collective security, when it comes to addressing some of the concerns that Russia has put forward.”
US SENDING WEAPONS TO UKRAINE AND PULLING AMERICANS OUT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected that U.S. approach on Friday, following his meeting with Blinken in Geneva, even as he touted Blinken’s pledge to provide a written response to Russia’s written ultimatum.
“I had a sense that in the end, following our clarifications, they … came to realize that they needed to concentrate on the content of our proposals and promised to provide us with a written response to our proposals next week,” Lavrov told reporters. “We are waiting for an official response on paper to our proposals, after which we will plan another contact.”
That dialogue raised a measure of optimism that the crisis would settle into a diplomatic process, but Lavrov’s team reiterated its demand that the United States and Western Europe scuttle security cooperation with Eastern European members of NATO. Blinken, for his part, subsequently ordered a drawdown of the American diplomatic presence in Kyiv, even as U.S. and Baltic allies raced to provide new weaponry to the Ukrainian military, as Russian forces loom on multiple borders.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The totality of that should send a clear signal to the Russian Federation, or any other aggressor, that Ukraine’s partners are providing and prepared to provide Ukraine with what it needs to defend itself,” Price said. “We’re of course not detailing all elements of that defensive security assistance that we’re providing.”
