US to discuss scaling back military exercises in Russia talks

US officials say concessions would need to be reciprocal; Proposals fall short of Moscow’s public demands.

Ukrainian reserves on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Avdiivka, southeastern Ukraine, on Saturday. Picture: AFP

The Biden administration is ready to discuss the deployment of US missiles in Europe as well as reciprocal restrictions on the size and scope of military exercises on the continent when it meets with Russian negotiators in Geneva on Monday, US officials said.

The administration’s efforts are an attempt to defuse tensions with Russia, which has deployed about 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border.

But they fall far short of Moscow’s demands that NATO call a halt to its eastward expansion, and cease training, exercises and military support to Ukraine and other parts of the former Soviet Union.

Any concessions “would have to be reciprocal”, a senior administration official said.

“Both sides would need to make essentially the same commitment, and these discussions will also have to be conducted in full consultation with our partners and allies.”

US and European negotiators head into a series of meetings with Russia this week, which begin in Geneva when Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has a working dinner with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Formal talks open the next day.

Ms Sherman will then travel to Brussels for an expanded meeting between NATO allies and Russia on Wednesday.

A third round of talks in Vienna on Thursday will take place under the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, of which Ukraine and Russia are members.

US officials on Saturday outlined three areas in which they hope to make progress with Russia: weapons deployments in Ukraine, missile deployments in Europe, and military exercises on the continent.

Russian officials have repeatedly complained that the US might deploy missiles on Ukrainian territory that could strike targets in Russia, though President Joe Biden told President Vladimir Putin last month that the US has no intention of doing so.

On Saturday, the senior administration official said the White House was prepared to codify Mr Biden’s position formally if Moscow would make a reciprocal commitment.

US officials also foresaw possible progress on intermediate-range missiles in Europe.

The US withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019 after accusing Moscow of violating the accord by deploying a prohibited cruise missile, the 9M729. Russia has denied the allegation.

The Trump administration rebuffed Russian proposals for a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range land-based missiles in Europe, saying such steps could tie US hands without leading to the elimination of 9M729 missiles.

But the Biden administration is open to exploring limiting such missiles, the US official said.

“Russia has also expressed an interest in discussing the future of certain missile systems in Europe, along the lines of the INF treaty, which Russia violated and the previous US administration withdrew from, ” the official said.

“We are open to discussing this possibility as well.”

A third area in which it hopes there will be convergence with Russia involves scaling back military exercises in Europe.

Such a step, which would need to be reciprocal, would reduce US military operations in the region.

The US is “willing to explore the possibility of reciprocal restrictions on the size and scope of such exercises, including both strategic bombers close to each other’s territories and ground-based exercises as well,” the senior adminis-tration official said.

Russia has cited US and NATO military exercises across Europe as a “red line” for Russia, particularly in Ukraine, which Mr Putin has said pose a threat on his nation’s doorstep.

US officials say Russia has carried out even larger and more provocative exercises near NATO territory; Moscow says it has a right to move troops around within its own borders. The US has already made some small steps in this regard: It has not carried out naval operations in the Black Sea since December, after conducting at least eight missions last year.

Troop numbers and the elements of force posture in NATO countries will not be discussed in the coming meetings, the senior administration official added.

U.S. officials do not know if their proposals will satisfy Moscow, whose own proposal would compel NATO to retract a 2008 statement that Ukraine and Georgia will one day become members of the alliance and forgo eastwards expansion.

The Wall Street Journal