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Senior diplomats from the United States and Russia will meet in Iceland for the first time this week, due to the sharp deterioration of ties between the two countries in recent months.
US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken and Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov plan to hold talks during the Arctic Council meeting in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik on Wednesday. Reykjavik is a city with a long history of US-Russian relations.
Even before the meeting (which on the surface looks to be preparing for the summit between President Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin next month), the two diplomats took diametrically opposed positions at the meeting. Heralds a potentially difficult and controversial exchange.
Prior to this, due to the threat of US-Russian relations to return to the trough of the Cold War, a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions were carried out one after another.
Nuclear powers disagree on numerous issues including Ukraine, the Arctic, Russia’s treatment of opposition figure Alexei Navani, and allegations of cyber misconduct, including claims that Russian hackers have ransomware attacks on key U.S. pipelines responsible for.
Brinken said on Tuesday: “Building a more stable and predictable relationship with Russia will be our priority.” “At the same time, we are very clear if Russia chooses to resort to recklessness or aggression against the interests of us or its allies and partners. Sexual action, we will respond. This is not for the purpose of seeking conflict or escalation, but because this challenge cannot be allowed to move forward with impunity.”
Brinken also tweeted on Tuesday that the United States condemned Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
He wrote: “We condemn Russia’s abuse in Crimea, especially on May 18th, because we commemorated the 77th anniversary of Stalin’s expulsion of countless Crimean Tas from his own peninsula.”
Lavrov may be anticipating Lincoln’s position. He made a preface at a press conference in Moscow on Monday.
He said: “Obviously, the United States has made a decision to promote a stable and predictable relationship with Russia.”
“However, if this includes continuous and predictable sanctions, that is not what we need. Our attitude towards the United States includes hope that normalized relations will be based on concrete actions, not on what we listen to too much.”
Brinken said that his meeting with Lavrov will be an important opportunity to test the claim that the United States and Russia can cooperate on certain issues, such as climate change, the Middle East, Iran, and North Korea, although in others There are differences on the issue. At the time of the meeting, most of the world was discussing the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Brinken pointed out that despite the hostility, the United States and Russia agreed to extend a key arms control agreement for five years as early as the Biden administration, and President Donald Trump refused to renew the agreement before leaving office.
Trump has left a clearly mixed legacy in Russia, including a friendly personal relationship with Putin, while his administration has imposed sanctions and other punitive measures.
Lavrov said that Moscow will determine its own “red line” and emphasized that in the field of strategic stability, it will insist on placing offensive and defensive, nuclear and non-nuclear weapons on the negotiating table.
Another more direct difference between Reykjavik is the North Pole. The famous summit meeting between President Ronald Reagan and Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 was the North Pole. Russia has always been in the North Pole. Expanding its military power and pursuing a policy of expanding its influence is largely the alarm of the United States.
Brinken rejected Russia’s call to restore the military component of the Arctic Council and expressed concern about the increase in Russia’s military activities in the region known as the “High North”.
He said: “We are concerned about some recent military activities in the Arctic.” “This increases the risk of accidents and miscalculations, and undermines the common goal of a peaceful and sustainable future in the region. Therefore, we must remain vigilant about this. .”
In the blink of an eye, Russia also assumed the task of proposing new navigation rules for the region and condemned Lavrov for making comments. He refuted this criticism because the Arctic is “our territory, our land.”
Brinken said: “We must continue to advance everyone, including Russia, in accordance with the rules, norms, and commitments made by us.”
Lavrov pointed out Russia’s dissatisfaction with Arctic military activities in Monday’s comments.
“For a long time, it has been known that this is our territory, our land. We are responsible for maintaining the safety of the Arctic coast. Everything Russia does here is absolutely legal.” He said.
After the diplomatic expulsion, Moscow and Washington were also involved in a fierce dispute over the status of their embassies and consulates.
Russia has approved the United States to dissolve all non-US personnel in its diplomatic missions before August 1. The United States said this will make its facilities almost impossible to operate.
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