Tensions between the West and Russia continue to mount.
Delegations from the United States and Russia have kicked off a week of talks Monday in Geneva. It is expected to be a week of high level discussions between Moscow and the West over Russia menacing its neighbor, Ukraine.
After Monday’s one-on-one meetings, NATO will hold a meeting with Russia Wednesday, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, will convene Thursday. The OSCE is a forum that developed during the Cold War that has deployed a war monitor in eastern Ukraine. Those talks are equally important in defusing tensions, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“What’s happening in Ukraine is not only about Ukraine. It’s part of a broader pattern of destabilizing, dangerous, and often illegal behavior by Moscow,” Secretary Blinken said on Friday. “If Russia has legitimate concerns about our actions, the United States, our NATO allies, our OSCE partners are willing to hear them and to try to address them – if the Kremlin is prepared to reciprocate regarding its own dangerous and destabilizing behavior.”
The administration has continually reiterated that “nothing about Europe without Europe” is its position. Yet some European officials have expressed concerns about the U.S. and Russia meeting without them.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is leading the U.S. delegation in Geneva, Switzerland, accompanied by Pentagon and White House National Security Council officials and the top U.S. diplomat for arms control, Bonnie Jenkins.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For American officials as they begin their discussions with diplomats from Russia about the tensions between Russia and the Ukraine.
- For diplomats as issues such arms control are broached, where some common ground could be found between the U.S. and Russia.
- For the relationships between the U.S. and its NATO allies.
Sources: ABC News, Washington Examiner
