Reykjavik, Iceland:
The US and Russian foreign ministers are meeting in Iceland on Wednesday to gauge the huge gulf among the rival powers and confirm a summit among Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.
Statements preceding the face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the Arctic Council meeting in Iceland do not bode properly for the de-escalation of tensions that the two say they want, with relations at their lowest point due to the fact the finish of the Cold War.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemed to want to make the Arctic — a new geopolitical challenge at the heart of the regional meeting Wednesday and Thursday in Reykjavik — a laboratory for cooperation focused on widespread challenges such as the fight against worldwide warming.
But his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov issued a strongly worded warning.
“It has been absolutely clear for everyone for a long time that this is our territory, this is our land,” Lavrov mentioned at a press conference in Moscow on Monday.
The Russian foreign minister at the exact same time accused Norway of “trying to justify the need for NATO to come into the Arctic.”
He insisted Russian military activity in the area is “absolutely legal.”
Mikaa Mered, a professor at French university Sciences Po and a specialist on the Arctic, mentioned that Russians “always do this sort of posturing before the ministerial summit, but that doesn’t prevent the Council from continuing its work on its traditional consensus issues”.
The Russian warning inevitably drew a response from Blinken, who on Tuesday stressed Washington wanted to “avoid a militarisation” of the Arctic.
“We have concerns about some of the increased military activities in the Arctic. That increases the dangers or prospects of accidents,” Blinken mentioned, adding that it undermined “the shared goal of a peaceful and sustainable future for the region”.
Face to face
In a post on Twitter later on Tuesday, Blinken condemned “Russia’s abuses in Crimea” — though recalling the 77th anniversary of “Stalin’s deportation of countless Crimean Tatars from their native peninsula”.
Since taking more than the White House in January, President Biden has taken a powerful line against Russia, going as far as describing Putin as a “killer” — in sharp contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump, who was accused of complacency towards the Russian leader.
Moscow and Washington have also exchanged harsh accusations and sanctions due to the fact the starting of Biden’s term in workplace.
“We’ve been very clear that if Russia chooses to take reckless or aggressive actions that target our interests, those of our allies and partners, we’ll respond,” Blinken mentioned Tuesday.
“Not for the purposes of seeking conflict or escalating, but because such challenges cannot be allowed to go forward with impunity,” he continued.
Meanwhile the major US diplomat cautioned that it was “important to have the opportunity to talk about these things face to face… to see if there are grounds for a more stable, predictable relationship with Russia.”
To this finish, Biden and Putin have agreed in principle to hold their initially summit, almost certainly in June in a European nation in the wake of the G7 summit and NATO leaders’ meeting.
Both events are anticipated to show a united anti-Moscow front.
On Monday, Blinken mentioned he anticipated the summit to come about in the next handful of weeks.
A precise date and venue are most likely to be announced in the days following the Reykjavik meeting.
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