{"id":21317,"date":"2022-01-13T02:01:20","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T02:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/13\/no-ukraine-breakthrough-but-nato-and-russia-eye-more-talks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:54:46","slug":"no-ukraine-breakthrough-but-nato-and-russia-eye-more-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/01\/13\/no-ukraine-breakthrough-but-nato-and-russia-eye-more-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"No Ukraine breakthrough, but NATO and Russia eye more talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BRUSSELS \u2014 The United States and NATO rejected key Russian security demands for easing tensions over Ukraine<\/a> but left open Wednesday the possibility of future talks with Moscow on arms control, missile deployments and ways to prevent military incidents between Russia and the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decisions came at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, the first of its kind in over two years. That Russia\u2019s delegation did not walk out of the talks and remained open to the prospect of future discussions after having its main positions rebuffed were seen as positive notes in a week of high-level meetings<\/a> aimed at staving off a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants NATO to withdraw its troops and military equipment from countries that border Russia, which include Ukraine but also NATO allies like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Putin also asked for the 30-nation military alliance<\/a> to agree not to admit any more members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From left, United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, and Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin pose for a photo prior to the NATO-Russia Council at NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking after the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed that some of Putin\u2019s security demands \u201care simply non-starters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not slam the door shut on NATO\u2019s open-door policy,\u201d she told reporters after almost four hours of talks. \u201cWe are not going to agree that NATO cannot expand any further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting was called as an estimated 100,000 combat-ready Russian troops<\/a>, tanks and heavy military equipment are massed near Ukraine\u2019s eastern border. The buildup has caused deep concerns in Kyiv and the West that Moscow is preparing for an invasion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia denies that it has fresh plans to attack its neighbor and in turn accuses the West of threatening its security by positioning military personnel and equipment in Central and Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While noting that \u201cescalation does not create optimum conditions for diplomacy, to say the least,\u201d Sherman also expressed optimism following the Brussels meeting given that Moscow did not dismiss the idea of further talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\t