US hints at gas deal as Putin sends jets to Ukraine border

Talks held this week between the US and Russia on the Ukraine issue remain deadlocked.

An Ukrainian serviceman on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

Russia is moving attack helicopters and fighter jets towards the Ukrainian border even as the White House scrambles to defuse a stand-off with the Kremlin by blocking calls for sanctions on businesses linked to Nord Stream 2.

The new pipeline, intended to funnel Russian gas to Germany, has become a bone of contention for those who believe President Vladimir Putin’s aggression should be countered with financial penalties.

Talks held this week between the US and Russia on the Ukraine issue remain deadlocked, but in Washington senior Democrats are trying to defeat a motion by Republicans in congress to hit Moscow with sanctions. The Biden administration has insisted that such action would only serve to inflame tensions further.

US officials said Russian helicopters and ground-attack fighter jets had been moved to bases closer to Ukraine, in the latest sign of planning for an invasion. The build-up has slowed in recent days, but Russia retains 100,000 soldiers along the border, poised for a ground offensive if Mr Putin decides to act.

US and Russian diplomats met to broker a solution to the Ukraine crisis on Monday, the first of three sets of bilateral talks planned for this week. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman described the talks as “frank and forthright”, but said there had been no concessions from either side, and no evidence that Mr Putin was ready to de-escalate the crisis. Russian envoys will hold talks with NATO in Brussels on Wednesday night, with Moscow still demanding a pledge that Ukraine never be admitted to the alliance. Ms Sherman said the Russian demands were “non-starters” and the US would “not allow anyone to slam closed NATO’s open-door policy”.

Russia, in turn, has rebuffed calls to withdraw its troops from the border, insisting that they are conducting routine exercises and that there are no plans to invade.

In Washington, Texan senator Ted Cruz is leading efforts to ­impose sanctions on businesses associated with the 1200km Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Chris Murphy, a Democrat senator, said the proposal would create chaos, undermining American diplomacy and threatening a fracture with the nation’s European allies. “This is not good policy for the Senate to allow Ted Cruz to break us from our trans-Atlantic partners in the middle of a delicate negotiation over the future of US-Russia, and Europe-Russia policy,” Senator Murphy told CNN.

The Democrats are drafting an alternative bill that would impose tough new sanctions on Russia only if it invades Ukraine. Yet White House efforts to block the bill are being hampered by several Democratic senators wary of appearing soft on Russia before they face voters at mid-term elections in November. A breakaway by Democrats in the Senate, which is tied at 50-50, could push the bill closer to the 60 votes it needs to pass, inflicting huge embarrassment on the White House at home and torpedoing the diplomatic effort abroad.

Nord Stream 2 was completed in September but is not yet online. The €10bn ($15.8bn) pipeline, which goes through the Baltic Sea, will double gas supplies from Russia to Europe to 110 billion cubic metres a year. The pipeline bypasses Ukraine, a tradition­al transit country for Russian gas, depriving its economy of fees that total about 4 per cent of its GDP.

Two rounds of talks between US President Joe Biden and Mr Putin last month failed to defuse the crisis, with Russia still demanding the withdrawal of NATO troops and bases from eastern Europe, and guarantees Ukraine and Georgia be barred from joining the alliance. US officials believe Russia’s window for an invasion of Ukraine has narrowed, The New York Times reported. A relatively mild winter has delayed the hard winter freeze that would be needed to move heavy weapons, military vehicles and equipment overland before the spring thaw.

The Times