Washington \/ Moscow
\nThe United States and Russia will hold much-anticipated talks in January, a White House official told AFP Monday, with the rivals due to negotiate on nuclear arms control and mounting tensions over Ukraine.
\n\u201cThe United States looks forward to engaging with Russia,\u201d a spokesperson for the National Security Council said, on condition of anonymity.
\n\u201cWhen we sit down to talk, Russia can put its concerns on the table and we will put our concerns on the table with Russia\u2019s activities as well.\u201d
\nBilateral talks are scheduled for January 10, the spokesperson said.
\nMoscow and NATO representatives are then expected to meet January 12, while Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, will meet January 13, the spokesperson added.
\nThe January 10 meeting will be held as part of the Strategic Security Dialogue initiative launched by US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at their summit in Geneva last June.
\nWhile that format is mostly consecrated to resuscitating post-Cold War nuclear arms control treaties, the talks will also cover the standoff over Ukraine, where Russia has deployed a large combat force on the border, a senior White House official said, also on condition of anonymity.
\nThe NATO-Russia Council meeting and the talks between Moscow and the OSCE\u2019s Permanent Council are slated to focus on Ukraine.
\nWestern capitals accuse Putin of threatening to invade Ukraine, a former Soviet territory seeking to break from Moscow\u2019s sphere of influence and eventually join the NATO alliance.
\nRussia already occupies a swath of Ukraine in the Crimean peninsula and is accused of fomenting a separatist pro-Moscow rebellion in the industrial east of the country.
\nDeployment by Russia of tens of thousands of new troops to the border sparked fears in Kiev and among its Western allies of a wider war, possibly including further seizures of Ukrainian territory.
\nPutin denies planning to attack the neighboring country, saying the troop movements are to defend Russia against an encroaching Western military.
\nThis month he issued a series of far-reaching security demands to Western countries that included barring Ukraine from getting NATO membership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington \/ Moscow The United States and Russia will hold much-anticipated talks in January, a White House official told AFP Monday, with the rivals due to negotiate on nuclear arms control and mounting tensions over Ukraine. \u201cThe United States looks forward to engaging with Russia,\u201d a spokesperson for the National Security Council said, on condition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-235563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n