A photo provided by the White House shows US President Joe Biden, right, at the White House in Washington, as President Vladimir Putin of Russia appears on video monitors during their virtual meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, and other officials also attended. (White House via The New York Times)
Speaking on Wednesday, a day after he held a bilateral call with Russia’s leader, the US president said he hoped to announce high-level talks by Friday “to discuss the future of Russia’s concerns relative to Nato writ large”.
The talks would explore “whether or not we can work out any accommodation as it relates to bringing down the temperature along the eastern front”, Biden added.
The US president said he hoped the participants would include not just Washington and Moscow but also “at least four of our major Nato allies”, although he declined to name the specific countries.
Moscow wants Nato to commit to halting any eastward expansion and to refrain from deploying troops and equipment that could be used to attack Russia from neighbouring countries.
Putin on Wednesday reiterated his fear that Ukraine will join Nato, which he said would “undoubtedly be followed by the placement of relevant military contingents, bases, and weapons threatening us”.
“We are working on the assumption that our concerns will be heard at least this time,” he added.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that European security issues must be discussed with all NATO allies and that Russia must not be given the right to decide on NATO membership or territorial defense.
"Firstly, Russia must never be given a say in who may or may not be a member of NATO. Secondly, Russia must not be given any say in how NATO manages the defense of its territory. And thirdly, Europe and our security issues must be discussed with all allies, "Kallas said at a government press conference today.
According to Kallas, she also plans to talk about the government's views with President Alar Karis and other prime ministers of the Baltic region.
"We all know what Russia's plan is. Russia's plan is to use military force and threats, it is to force Ukraine to change its decisions, to force NATO to choose certain paths. And most worryingly, the desire to divide Europe into spheres of influence. "There is no naivety on this issue. It is unacceptable, it is morally wrong and it must be clearly said to Russia," said Kallas.