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Yesterday the U.S. State Department submitted written responses to Russian negotiating positions in the ongoing U.S.-Russia negotiations over the Ukraine crisis. The exact text and details of the responses are confidential. However, Secretary of State Blinken’s statement regarding the content of the U.S. response is disturbing. At a press briefing, Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. refusal to engage with the core Russian position that the Ukraine should not be permitted to enter NATO, adding that in the written response “we make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend — including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances.”

This is problematic from several perspectives. At the most basic level, it indicates that the U.S. is refusing to seek compromise regarding what Russia believes to be a core national security interest, namely that the U.S. should not make an alliance commitment to the military defense of Ukraine. Russia views Ukraine as a strategically critical nation due to its location directly on the Russian border and deep historical and cultural ties to Eastern Ukraine. Läs artikel

[…] For the moment, the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is working with Ukraine to modernise its armed forces. Canada operates a training programme in Ukraine, while Denmark is also stepping up efforts to bring Ukraine’s military up to NATO standards. The alliance has also said it will help Ukraine defend against cyber attacks and is providing secure communications equipment for military command. […]

The United States, Britain and the Baltic states are sending weapons to Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles, small arms and boats. Turkey has sold drones to Ukraine that the Ukrainian military has used in eastern Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists.

However, Germany is against sending arms to Ukraine. Berlin has instead promised a complete field hospital and the necessary training for Ukrainian troops to operate it, worth about $6 million. […]

The U.S. Department of Defense has put about 8,500 American troops on heightened alert. Denmark is sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and four F-16 warplanes to Lithuania. Spain has sent a minesweeper and a frigate to join NATO naval forces in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Madrid is also considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria, while the Netherlands has also offered two F-35 warplanes to Bulgaria from April. France may send troops to Romania under NATO command. Läs artikel

Today, after weeks of close consultation with Ukraine and partners on the Security Council, the United States called an open meeting of the Security Council to discuss a matter of crucial importance to international peace and security: Russia’s threatening behavior against Ukraine and the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders and in Belarus.

More than 100,000 Russian troops are deployed on the Ukrainian border and Russia is engaging in other destabilizing acts aimed at Ukraine, posing a clear threat to international peace and security and the UN Charter. As we continue our relentless pursuit of diplomacy to de-escalate tensions in the face of this serious threat to European and global peace and security, the UN Security Council is a crucial venue for diplomacy.

The members of the Security Council must squarely examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe, and for the core obligations and principles of the international order should Russia further invade Ukraine.

This is not a moment to wait and see. The Council’s full attention is needed now, and we look forward to direct and purposeful discussion on Monday. Läs uttalandet

We, the international partners committed to supporting Mali and its people in their efforts to achieve sustainable peace and stability and combat terrorism, deeply regret the statement by the Malian transitional authorities, dated January 24, alleging that the deployment of the Danish contingent in the Task Force Takuba has been made without a proper legal basis and consent from the Malian government, and therefore demanding its withdrawal from the Malian soil. […]

We recall that the Malian authorities sent a formal invitation letter to the government of Denmark on 27 November 2019. The notification of acceptance was then transmitted by the Danish embassy in Bamako on 29 June 2021, and signed on the very same day by the Protocol of the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The presence of Danish soldiers on Malian soil is therefore legal, has been the subject of an invitation from the authorities of the Republic of Mali and has respected the legal procedure agreed by the legal services of the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Ministry of Defence.

Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom  Läs uttalandet

Ryssland uttryckte både besvikelse och försiktig optimism då talesmän kommenterade de västliga svaren på Rysslands säkerhetskrav på torsdagen.

USA och Nato överlät på onsdagen de skriftliga svar som Ryssland krävt. Både utrikesminister Sergej Lavrov och president Vladimir Putins talesman Dmitrij Peskov sa att de västliga svaren inte beaktade Rysslands främsta krav, det vill säga garantier för att Nato inte ska utvidgas ytterligare.

– Man kan inte säga att våra ståndpunkter beaktades, sa Peskov.

– Det gavs inget positivt svar på den främsta frågan, formulerade sig Lavrov.

Lavrov sa i alla fall att de övriga västliga svaren gav möjlighet till fortsatt dialog.

Enligt Peskov studeras de västliga svaren nu av president Putin och det är Putin som fattar beslut om Rysslands nästa steg. Lavrov antydde samtidigt att de västliga svaren kan komma att publiceras inom kort. Ingendera parten har gett några detaljer om innehållet. Läs artikel

The US will stand by the NATO’s open doors policy, but is prepared to hold talks with Russia on arms control in Europe and transparency of military exercises. That’s according to the US written response to Russia’s security proposals that was outlined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a news conference on Wednesday.

Blinken spokes about the broad outlines of the US replies. The Americans won’t make them public and are urging Russia to do the same. The US says the response isn’t a formal document but a set of ideas for further discussion, if Russia wants to continue dialogue.

”There’s no doubt in my mind that if Russia were to approach this seriously, and in a spirit of reciprocity, with the determination to enhance collective security for all of us, there are very positive things in this document that should be pursued,” he said. Läs artikel

They reaffirm that the Minsk agreements are the basis of the work of the Normandy format and are committed to reduce current disagreements on the way forward.

They support unconditional observance of the cease fire and full adherence to the measures to strengthen the cease fire of 22 July 2020 regardless of differences on other issues of the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

They discussed the importance for the TCG and its working groups to intensify their work with a view of swift progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

They agree to meet again in two weeks in Berlin. Läs deklarationen

President Sauli Niinistö tycker det är för drastiskt att prata om ett krig i Europa. Lugnar läget inte ner sig mellan Ryssland och Ukraina, kan det däremot få effekter också på Östersjön.

Niinistö gästade MTV:s intervjuprogram på onsdag kväll. Enligt honom handlar det säkerhetspolitiska läget just nu om två stora helheter som hänger ihop med varandra – läget i Ukraina och Rysslands säkerhetspolitiska krav på USA och Nato. För att lösa en konflikt måste man också lösa den andra.

Något hot mot Finland ser Niinistö ändå inte.

– Vi är inte i något nödläge, men vi måste hålla ett öga på vad som händer i Ukraina. Om situationen inte löser sig, kan läget bli spändare och det kan också få effekter på läget i Östersjön, sa president Niinistö. […]

Niinistö jämförde diskussionerna stormakterna emellan med en tennismatch.

– Tennis är en trevlig sportgren, men vi får inte bli någon tennisboll. När det kommer till ett eventuellt medlemskap är det såklart vi själva som bestämmer om vi vill bli medlemmar.

Niinistö upprepade också sin tidigare åsikt om att ett Natomedlemskap måste föregås av en folkomröstning. Läs artikel

Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF) och Dansk Folkeparti (DF) har tidigare stått bakom beslutet att skicka 90 danska soldater till konflikthärjade Mali. På onsdagen valde de båda partierna att officiellt kräva att soldaterna ska lämna Mali.

– Omedelbart. Nu är det enda stort virrvarr, säger Søren Espersen som är DF:s talesperson i utrikesfrågor.

Den danska styrkan anlände i måndags för att delta i Task Force Takuba. I den multinationella insatsen ingår även Sverige. Men efter ankomsten meddelade Malis militärjunta att danskarna inte var välkomna och att någon formell förfrågan inte framställts. Läs artikel

When I was a journalist for The Times (London) in Moscow in December 1992, I saw a print-out of a speech by the then Russian foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev, warning that if the West continued to attack vital Russian interests and ignore Russian protests, there would one day be a dangerous backlash. A British journalist had scrawled on it a note to an American colleague, “Here are more of Kozyrev’s ravings.”

Andrei Kozyrev was the most liberal and pro-Western foreign minister Russia has ever had. As he stated in his speech, his anxiety about Western behavior was rooted in fear that the resulting backlash would destroy liberalism in Russia and Russian co-operation with the West. He was proved right as we see today. Yet when he expressed this fear, in entirely moderate and rational terms, he was instinctively dismissed by western observers as virtually insane. Läs artikel