Russia to hold firm in talks with US, senior official says

MOSCOW－Russia on Sunday ruled out making any concessions over Ukraine and security in Europe in talks with the United States, with a senior minister saying the country was "disappointed" with the US signals ahead of the meeting.

"We will not agree to any concession. That is completely excluded," Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Russian news agencies.

The Interfax and RIA news agencies also reported that Russia said it was disappointed by the messages from Washington and Brussels on the eve of the talks in Geneva and that the US was insisting on unilateral Russian concessions.

"We are disappointed with the signals coming in the last few days from Washington but also from Brussels," he said.

Talks between US and Russian diplomats are scheduled to begin in Geneva on Monday after a weekslong standoff over Russian troop deployments near its border with Ukraine, with veteran envoys on each side trying to avert a crisis.

Interfax quoted Ryabkov as saying that Moscow was not optimistic going into the talks.

US officials on Saturday unveiled some details of the administration's stance, which seem to fall well short of Russian demands. The officials said the US is open to discussions on curtailing the possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine and putting limits on US citizens and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe if Russia is willing to back off on Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a European official that it was important to support Ukraine's territorial integrity, a State Department spokesperson said.

Earlier on Saturday, a senior US administration official said that in regard to Ukraine, the US and its allies are prepared to discuss with Russia the possibility of each side restricting military exercises.

The US representative, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, was due to have a working dinner with Ryabkov on Sunday evening, a State Department spokesperson said.

The high-level discussions start a week of diplomacy in which Russian officials will meet with those from NATO on Wednesday and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met his US counterpart Joe Biden in Geneva in June and agreed on regular "stability" talks between Sherman and Ryabkov.

Agencies via Xinhua