FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 13, 2022
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—This week, the current Ukraine-Russia crisis has been the subject of bilateral U.S.-Russia talks, NATO-Russia talks, and OSCE talks. Defense Priorities Director of Grand Strategy Rajan Menon issued the following statement in response:
“The U.S. and Russia did not negotiate this week—they talked, and they mostly talked past each other.
“On the narrow issue of Ukraine, don’t hold your breath for a resolution. Russia wants a written guarantee that Ukraine will never be admitted to NATO. The U.S. says NATO will not shut the door to Ukraine and that Kyiv has the right to make its own choices. Each side seems to have dug deeper into its position this week.
“Beyond Ukraine, the prospects for agreements between the U.S. and Russia to improve the stability of the European security order—that is, make Europe less prone to crises and war—are somewhat better.
“For example, the two sides could agree to negotiations on some version of the INF Treaty that President Trump exited. Yes, each side—Russia and the U.S.—accused the other of violating the accord in recent years, but negotiations could address those claims and devise solutions.
“The U.S. and Russia could also agree on confidence-building measures, such as advanced warning before major military exercises and limits on the deployment of certain offensive strike weapons. This is not pie-in-the-sky. The U.S. and the Soviet Union reached such agreements during the Cold War.
“Oddly enough, the narrow issue of Ukraine may be the hardest one to resolve.”
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