'Continuing engagement is necessary to avert a military conflict that will harm the interests of the United States, harm innocent civilians in Ukraine, and risk spiraling into a potentially catastrophic war between the world's two leading nuclear powers.'
of the administration's stance, which seem to fall well short of Russian demands. The officials said the U.S. is open to discussions on curtailing possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine and putting limits on American and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe if Russia is willing to back off on Ukraine.
Moscow on Sunday made clear"it would not make concessions under U.S. pressure and warned that this week's talks on the Ukraine crisis might end early,"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who will lead his nation's delegation in Geneva, supposedly suggested the negotiations could end after just one meeting.
"These dialogues must engage with President Putin's explicit pursuit of 'reliable and long-term security guarantees' that would 'exclude any further NATO moves eastward and the deployment of weapons systems that threaten us in close vicinity to Russian territory," the letter says.