West-Russia talks so far ‘unsuccessful’

The Kremlin yesterday gave a bleak assessment of Russia's security talks with the United States and Nato this week, describing them as "unsuccessful" and saying there was disagreement on fundamental issues.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Moscow viewed a sweeping sanctions bill unveiled by US Senate Democrats "extremely negatively" and that its timing meant it looked like an attempt to put pressure on Moscow.

Peskov said two rounds of talks so far this week between Russia and the West had produced some "positive nuances" but that Moscow was looking for concrete results, not nuances.

The talks, which moved to Vienna yesterday for a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, are centred around an array of security demands that Moscow has made of the West, while building up forces near Ukraine.

Moscow wants legally binding promises that Nato will never allow former Soviet Ukraine to become a member and that the alliance will pull back troops from former Communist states in central and eastern Europe.

The proposed sanctions legislation, backed by the White House, would target top Russian government and military officials, including President Vladimir Putin, and key banking institutions if Moscow engages in hostilities against Ukraine.