US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has hinted that Washington will never agree to Russia’s proposal to limit NATO expansion close to its borders by blocking Ukraine from trying to join the military bloc.
Speaking to reporters following talks in Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Friday, Blinken said that the American side had given a “firm and substantive” response to two draft treaties proposed by Moscow.
“I made clear to Minister Lavrov that there are certain principles that the US, our partners and allies, are committed to defend. That includes those that would impede the sovereign right of the Ukrainian people to write their own future. There is no trade-space there – none,” he said.
However, he added, there was room to do a deal over a number of other issues referenced in the proposals. “On the security concerns Russia has raised in recent weeks, the US, our allies and partners are prepared to pursue a possible means of addressing them – in a spirit of reciprocity, which, simply put, means Russia must also address our concerns,” he went on. “There are several steps that we can take, all of us, Russia included, to increase transparency, to reduce risks, to advance arms control, to build trust.”