Russia, U.S. held security talks in Geneva

MOSCOW – A new round of security talks between Russia and the United States concluded Monday in Geneva, with the two sides showing no sign of narrowing differences on Ukraine and other security issues.

Analysts believe that Russia is willing to establish a longer-term security cooperation framework with Western countries led by the United States, while America has failed to respond to Russia’s security concerns. They forecast dim prospects for a breakthrough in talks as the two countries’ values and strategic goals diverge.

HARD TO REACH CONSENSUS “The talks were difficult, long, very professional, deep, concrete, without attempts to gloss over some sharp edges,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who headed the Russian delegation, said after the talks. However, he added that the main questions “are still up in the air, and we don’t see an understanding from the American side of the necessity of a decision in a way that satisfies us.” Russia has repeatedly voiced concern over the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the alliance’s deployment of weapons systems near the country’s borders.

The core of Russia’s relations with the West is rooted in its relationship with the United States, said Li Yonghui, senior research fellow in the Institute of Russia, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. If fundamental contradictions between the two countries cannot be resolved through dialogue, tensions in Europe are likely to persist in the foreseeable future, Li said.