A last hope to try to defuse the Ukrainian crisis? The heads of American and Russian diplomacy gave themselves a handful of hours on Friday in Geneva to avoid the escalation of tensions, Washington suspecting Moscow of wanting to invade its neighbor despite threats of heavy reprisals.
The meeting between Sergei Lavrov and Antony Blinken in a palace on the shores of Lake Geneva is the last pas de deux of an intense diplomatic ballet which began 11 days ago, already in Geneva, between their deputies. They had agreed to continue talking to each other despite the strong differences of opinion and the hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers massed on the borders of Ukraine.
The Blinken-Lavrov face-off should not exceed two hours. “We are facing complex problems and resolving them will take time. I do not expect us to settle them in Geneva, “said Antony Blinken on Thursday in Berlin, who is counting on “mutual understanding” and de-escalation on the Russian side to ease tensions.
A “swift, severe and united response from the United States”
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden ruled that his counterpart Vladimir Putin “will enter” Ukraine and he promised him, in this case, “a rapid, severe and united response from the United States and our allies”. The Kremlin on Thursday denounced the “destabilizing” remarks, which could give ideas “to hotheads among Ukrainian representatives”.
Russia, which already supports the rebellion in the east of the country which has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014, and has annexed Crimea, denies any plans for an invasion. But the Kremlin insists on written guarantees for its security, including the promise that Kiev will not join NATO and that the Alliance will not seek to expand into what it considers its precariousness. The United States has already dismissed these requests as unreasonable.
But the door is not quite closed: the Biden administration has repeatedly said that it is ready to discuss Russian fears for their safety. US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has proposed drawing inspiration from the defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) disarmament treaty, signed during the Cold War with Moscow.
On Wednesday, President Biden even said he was ready for a new summit with Vladimir Putin, after that of June 16, 2021 in Geneva. Russia did not say no to the proposals on missiles and maneuvers but recalled that this was not essential. For good measure, it announced on Thursday major naval maneuvers in January and February in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and even the Mediterranean.
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The head of American diplomacy on Wednesday urged Vladimir Putin to choose the “peaceful path”. Incidentally, he also made it clear that he would not offer written responses to the very detailed requests made by the Russians on the contentious points. Diplomats Sergei Lavrov and Antony Blinken will speak separately to the press after the meeting.
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