It was less a matter of differences than seemingly irreconcilable realities as the U.S. and Russia’s top diplomats clashed over Ukraine on Thursday.
While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated a demand that Russia withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border and resume peace talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that his country regarded the eastward expansion of the NATO military alliance as a “fundamental security threat.”
“No one should strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others,” Lavrov told reporters, speaking in Stockholm ahead of a meeting with Blinken. “Further advance of NATO to the east will unambiguously affect the fundamental interests of our security.”
Blinken, sitting alongside Lavrov, repeated U.S. and NATO threats to punish Russia should its forces once again invade Ukraine, as they did in Crimea in 2014.
“We have deep concerns about Russia’s plans for renewed aggression against Ukraine,” Blinken said, adding: “We have a strong, ironclad commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The best way to avert a crisis is through diplomacy.”
Blinken called for Russia to resume negotiations with Ukraine over the Minsk 2 peace accords within the “Normandy Format,” sponsored by France and Germany, while Lavrov demanded that Washington create an alternate channel of dialogue directly with the Kremlin.
Some analysts believe the recent Russian troop mobilization on the border is designed, at least in part, to force direct negotiations between Moscow and Washington. That could undermine the Normandy Format while sustaining the frozen conflict in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, where Russia has armed, financed and supported a separatist uprising for more than seven years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently refused a proposal by outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a Normandy Format leaders’ meeting, even as Russia has made repeated calls for Ukraine to live up to terms of the Minsk agreement that Moscow says are not being met. Russia, meanwhile, has long insisted it is not a direct party to the conflict.
Lavrov, in Stockholm on Thursday, insisted Russia did not want any new military confrontation. But he also said the U.S. should make good on an offer to establish a direct channel between Moscow and Washington outside of the Normandy process.
“Let me stress that we are interested in joining efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis,” Lavrov said. “American colleagues have said more than once that they want to help, without destroying the Normandy Format, by restoring a separate channel of dialogue that existed under the previous administration. We’re ready for this.”
At the same time, Lavrov demanded that Blinken explain comments in which the secretary of state accused Russia of not fulfilling obligations under the Minsk 2 agreement. “I look forward to clarification,” he said.
The top U.S. and Russian diplomats met on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and each suggested the other’s country was violating core principles of the OSCE, which seeks to promote peace in Europe.
In a further sign of their disagreements, the State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry published transcripts of the diplomats’ opening remarks with notable differences in some of the key lines. At least some of those differences appeared to be the result of imprecise translation.
In a statement following the Lavrov-Blinken meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded Ukraine’s “unconditional and full implementation” of the Minsk accords, “including maintaining a direct dialogue with the authorities” in Luhansk and Donetsk, the eastern Ukrainian regions now occupied by Russian-backed separatists.
Blinken, at a news conference in Stockholm after the meeting, rejected Moscow’s recent assertions that Russia was under any kind of threat.
“We also affirmed that despite a massive Russian disinformation campaign, Ukraine is in no way posing a threat to Russia or seeking a confrontation that would justify a Russian military intervention,” Blinken said. “The only threat is that of renewed Russian aggression towards Ukraine.”
He also repeated recent warnings by the U.S. and other NATO allies of severe consequences in the event of a Russian invasion.
“I made very clear our deep concerns and our resolve to hold Russia responsible for its actions, including our commitment to work with European allies to impose severe costs and consequences on Russia if it takes further aggressive action against Ukraine,” Blinken said.
Blinken acknowledged the sharp difference in perspectives and said that the envoys would report back to their bosses, and that a direct conversation between U.S. President Joe Biden and Putin would likely take place in the coming days.
“Foreign Minister Lavrov and I had candid exchanges on our different perspectives,” he said. “We agreed to report those back to our presidents who may have the opportunity to speak directly in the near future.” Blinken called the discussion “serious” and “sober.”
Pressed on what penalties Russia would face if it invades Ukraine, Blinken repeated his warning “of high impact economic measures.” Then, he added curtly: “I think Moscow knows very well the universe of what’s possible.”
