Little optimism as Russia and NATO meet over rising tensions in Europe

BRUSSELS — NATO and Russian officials are gathering Wednesday amid mounting unit from Moscow to hold to its sweeping demands oregon look a situation successful Ukraine that Russia warns would echo for generations.

But truthful far, determination is small optimism connected either broadside that the talks volition resoluteness an impasse implicit Russia’s main request that Ukraine and different Eastern European countries, arsenic good arsenic different erstwhile Soviet states, beryllium barred from ever joining the Western subject alliance, with officials and analysts saying the best-case script would beryllium for each sides to conscionable support talking.

The talks are portion of a bid of meetings betwixt Western and Russian officials this week aimed astatine cooling tensions implicit Russia’s massing of troops adjacent Ukraine, which has prompted fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to motorboat a caller attack.

The United States — a NATO subordinate — met with Russian officials independently Monday, and American officials said they rebuffed Moscow’s demands. Analysts expect a akin result aft Wednesday’s discussions.

“I don’t deliberation we tin expect that these meetings volition lick each issues,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters this week. “What we are hoping for is that we tin hold connected a mode forward, that we tin hold connected a bid of meetings, that we tin hold connected a process.”

Officials study that Russia has deployed astir 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian borderline and continues to summation its subject beingness — adjacent portion the United States, NATO and European Union officials committedness terrible consequences if Russia invades Ukraine.

Russia denies it plans to attack, but Putin has accused NATO of threatening Russian information and warned of a “military-technical” effect to immoderate “unfriendly steps.”

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said Tuesday that successful conversations with subordinate states, “it has go crystal wide that not a azygous state wrong the NATO confederation is consenting to budge oregon negociate thing arsenic it relates to NATO’s ‘open door’ policy,” which allows immoderate state to articulation the organization. Speaking successful a telephone with reporters Tuesday, Smith said she “cannot ideate immoderate script wherever that is up for discussion.”

Smith said a 2008 Bucharest acme concluded that admitting Ukraine and Georgia to NATO was a question of “not whether but when.” She called Russia’s demands to regularisation retired the alliance’s enlargement to those nations and others a “non-starter.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russia saw NATO’s unfastened doorway argumentation arsenic a threat, and needed legally binding information guarantees. He said Russia was “open to dialogue,” contempt the pugnacious situation, but threats by United States officials going into the talks were unhelpful.

Peskov added Russia would “wait for the completion of these negotiations and the adjacent circular astatine the OSCE site” earlier deciding connected further action.

“We would not similar to, similar American officials, determination retired threats, ultimatums, foretell a precocious terms to beryllium paid. We would not privation to beryllium similar this,” Peskov said.

More than 10,000 Russian servicemen successful confederate Russia began subject exercises Wednesday. Peskov denied immoderate narration betwixt the exercises and the NATO-Russia Council talks.

Talks connected the situation Monday betwixt U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, made nary progress. Sherman told journalists that she had rejected Russia’s request to artifact NATO introduction to Ukraine.

Stoltenberg has said allowing caller countries to articulation NATO is simply a cardinal rule of the alliance, and helium is assured that subordinate countries volition not springiness successful to demands that would restrict the alliance’s maturation oregon forestall it from protecting its allies successful Eastern Europe. Russia has besides demanded that NATO hold not to transportation retired immoderate subject enactment successful Central Asia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and non-NATO countries successful Eastern Europe — a request that NATO has likewise said it would not hold to.

While imminent agreements are unlikely, having conversations with Russia is amended than not having them and could forestall a war, according to Sam A. Greene, manager of the Russia Institute astatine King’s College London. Greene said nary 1 tin foretell precisely what Putin’s plans oregon intentions are and discussions volition not beryllium “a speedy oregon casual process.”

“Strategic discussions are amended than warfare and tin execute amended outcomes for everyone than a war. It’s a monolithic diplomatic undertaking,” Greene said. “Is it imaginable that those positions volition alteration implicit time? Yeah, that’s wherefore we talk.”

The Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said the United States should driblet its “aggressive rhetoric of overseas expansion” and deliberation alternatively astir however aboriginal generations tin unrecorded together.

He said astatine Wednesday’s NATO-Russia Council meeting, Moscow wanted “a substantive treatment of the Russian documents that indispensable beryllium adopted arsenic soon arsenic imaginable successful bid to stabilize the concern successful Europe.”

Russian officials person steadily scaled up unit implicit respective months, amplifying the consciousness of situation done subject movements, accusations of Western aggression, claims that Kyiv oregon Washington were readying “provocations” against Russia, and warnings that Moscow volition not hold agelong for its demands to beryllium met.

Russia’s grievances hark backmost to 1997, erstwhile NATO began a bid of expansions by accepting erstwhile Warsaw Pact and erstwhile Soviet nations.

Putin has singled retired the deployment of NATO antiaircraft missiles successful Romania and Poland arsenic threatening Russia. Last month, Russia released a database of demands for written information guarantees from NATO, including a telephone for the removal of each NATO subject infrastructure installed successful Eastern European countries aft 1997, efficaciously attempting to rework the consequences of the Soviet Union’s illness successful 1991, which near Russia weakened for years.

Dixon reported from Belgrade, Serbia. Paul Sonne successful Washington contributed to this report.