US, Russia to meet early Jan in Geneva

The United States and Russia will hold much-anticipated talks in January on European security and the Ukraine conflict after Moscow listed demands including to end Nato's expansion.

A spokesperson for the US National Security Council told AFP on condition of anonymity late Monday that the talks with Russia will take place on January 10.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov yesterday confirmed the date and said that they will take place in Geneva, where US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met for their first summit in June.

The Kremlin has grown increasingly insistent that the West and Nato are encroaching dangerously close to Russia's borders.

Moscow earlier this month presented the West with sweeping security demands, saying Nato must not admit new members and seeking to bar the United States from establishing new bases in former Soviet republics.

Moscow 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.