Talks about to begin…..
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-e...ukraine-talks/
With Russian guns pointed at Ukraine, West and Moscow dive into talks
What’s on the table — and what’s not
Putin will not discuss his invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, which the West still views as a violation of international law that must be reversed. Putin also has never admitted, and won’t concede now, that active-duty Russian military personnel are operating in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, despite ample evidence to the contrary, including a
recent Russian court ruling that discussed contracts for supplying food to Russian forces.
The U.S. and its NATO allies, meanwhile, have already said they will not accede to Russia’s demands that the U.S. remove troops and weapons from Eastern European countries that joined the alliance after 1997. They have already rejected a demand for the removal of all U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in Europe, and also flatly ruled out Moscow’s demand for a guarantee that Ukraine and Georgia will never join NATO……
But even as the Russian delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, arrived in Geneva on Sunday afternoon for the first informal meeting — a bilateral discussion with the U.S. — there were signs Moscow was unimpressed by the comments from Washington and not optimistic about the prospect of any deal.
“We are not going there with an outstretched hand, we are going with a clearly formulated task that must be solved on the terms that we have formulated. That’s all,” Ryabkov told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
“If we walk in circles and repeat the same thing, if we do not see the slightest signs of readiness from the other side to take into account our priorities, to react to them in a constructive way, then the dialogue will become pointless,” Ryabkov said.
In Geneva, the U.S. delegation will be led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, one of Washington’s most seasoned diplomats and a familiar figure in Moscow. Sherman was the chief negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal under former President Barack Obama, and under former President Bill Clinton, she was the policy coordinator for North Korea and led negotiations with Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
Overall, Russia’s recent litany of requests, put forward last month
as a draft “treaty,” would fundamentally rewrite the security architecture of modern Europe. And the far-reaching nature of the document — Kremlin critics would say vastly over-reaching — reflect just how little Putin has to lose in the current round of discussions.
Virtually any concession Putin might be granted would amount to something for nothing for the Russian leader, who has been in power since the end of 1999, and recently oversaw a rewriting of his country’s constitution to allow him to
stay in office until 2036……