A senior Russian diplomat predicted that this week’s talks with the United States will be “difficult,” after attending a working dinner with US officials in Geneva on Sunday as part of a series of meetings that will take place this week in three European cities.

These interactions occur at a time when relations between Moscow and Washington are at a low level because Russia has concentrated military troops near Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and other Russian officials met for more than two hours with US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who heads the US delegation, and the other members of the US team at the luxurious residence of the US ambassador for the Conference on Disarmament, in front of Lake Geneva.

The dinner was a prelude to the broader discussion to take place between the two delegations at the US mission in Geneva starting Monday, which was the culmination of a chain of virtual and face-to-face meetings between US officials, their Western allies, and Russian officials in the last days and weeks, at a time when tensions have risen due to Russian pressure against Ukraine.

“We got to the bottom of the next issues, but the talks are going to be difficult,” Ryabkov told reporters as he left the dinner. “They cannot be simple. They will have a business cut. I think we will not waste our time tomorrow.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said that during Sunday’s dinner Sherman “underscored the United States’ commitment to the international principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the freedom of sovereign nations to choose their own alliances,” a reference to Ukraine and its aspirations to join NATO.

Sherman “reaffirmed that the United States will welcome genuine progress through diplomatic channels,” Price said in a statement.

The talks are seen as the first step in rekindling the dialogue at a time when ties have deteriorated as Russia deployed some 100,000 troops to its border with Ukraine. Concerns have grown that Russia intends to expand its military foray into Ukraine.

The government of President Vladimir Putin has presented a list of demands, as guarantees that the NATO military alliance will not seek to expand further east to countries such as Ukraine or Georgia, which were former Soviet republics.

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