With respect to U.S.-Russia strategic stability talks in Geneva on Jan. 10, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Bloomberg News in an interview yesterday that Russia wants to see results within a few weeks. “The president [of Russia, Vladimir Putin] said the result is needed immediately, and that’s not a figure of speech,” he said. “We can’t even talk about months here, let alone years,” he added, but without specifying a deadline. As for the tough U.S. stance rejecting some of the provisions of the draft agreements that Moscow released on Dec. 15, “I hope this is just a negotiating tactic,” he said. Ryabkov said he hopes to gauge the prospects for continued diplomacy based on “the extent to which our American colleagues are receptive to our demands” at the talks next week, where Ryabkov will head the Russian delegation. “I need to hear what they want to choose” from what Russia is seeking, he said. “But that doesn’t mean I will agree with their choice.”
Separately, in an interview with Izvestia, Ryabkov said that “[the US] has not specifically indicated what exactly [from Russian proposals on security are unacceptable for them and their European allies].”
