Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, in a briefing with reporters afterwards, characterized the eight-hour meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov as “frank and forthright,” according to the State Department transcript of her remarks. She reported that the U.S. had put on the table ideas regarding missile deployments in Europe, including a discussion of future missile systems along the lines of the now-defunct INF Treaty. “We shared that we are also open to discussing ways we can set reciprocal limits on the size and scope of military exercises, and to improve transparency about those exercises, again on a reciprocal basis—and appreciating this will also be a topic of discussion in the NATO-Russia Council and at the OSCE meeting this week.”
The United States remains “firm,” however, that it will not agree to “slam closed” the door on NATO expansion. “We will not forego bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that wish to work with the United States,” she said. “And we will not make decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, about Europe without Europe, or about NATO without NATO. As we say to our allies and partners, ‘nothing about you without you.’” Beyond that, Sherman repeated the narrative of Russia as the sole cause of the crisis that Blinken belligerently retailed last week, including the threat of “significant sanctions” if Russia were to invade Ukraine.
