BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2022) Russia and the United States were "flexing their muscles" and did not show readiness to make concessions at the recent security talks in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna, which is normal for the exploratory phase of the dialogue, a specialist in European security and defense told Sputnik on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the sides sat down for long-anticipated bilateral talks in Geneva, as part of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels and via the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna.
"You could only expect exploratory work to be done this week. Both sides are flexing their muscles. It is the start of the process and the negotiators need to find the right format for real negotiations. It is not feasible to negotiate in three different locations simultaneously, with different teams in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna," the fellow of the European Security and Defence College, Prof. Sven Biscop, said.
The expert added that bilateral negotiations are suitable for discussing the renewal of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that were once signed by the USSR and the US, but ceased to have relevance. However, European countries must take part in the decision-making process as well as the US, at least to tackle the Ukrainian issue," Biscop said.
"NATO is a defensive alliance, and at the fall of the wall, was joined by many of the Central European republics, freed from communism. These countries considered NATO as their best guarantee of security... After making a cost - benefit analysis, NATO members considered they should not formally accept to invite Ukraine and Georgia," Biscop said, adding that the alliance welcomes Ukraine's and Georgia's aspirations to join, and agreed that they might be admitted in the future.
The outcome of the Bucharest Summit, which resulted in an agreement that Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members, can be reversed by a deal between Russia and the West, which entails significant concessions from both parties, Biscop assumes.
"There would be two sides to a global package deal on Ukraine and Georgia. The Western side of the deal could be indeed to announce that NATO would not invite Ukraine to join the Alliance and formalize it in a Treaty, with guarantees that the neutrality and independence of Ukraine would be guaranteed. But Russia then needs to make major concessions as well," Biscop said.
On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said after the talks in Geneva that Moscow needs "rock-solid" guarantees that neither Ukraine nor Georgia will ever join NATO.
