Psaki: U.S. believes Russia may be spreading disinformation about Geneva meeting

The United States is preparing for Russia to allegedly spread misinformation about commitments related to bilateral consultations in Geneva on security guarantees. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this at a regular briefing.

“We are preparing for the possibility and the likelihood – no one should be surprised, I should say – that Russia will spread disinformation about commitments that were not made in Geneva. And so we continue to urge everyone not to succumb to attempts to impose disinformation,” Psaki said.

U.S. President Joe Biden is asking his administration to have “no talk about Europe without Europe, no talk about Ukraine without Ukraine.” “We had these talks with Russia today. And this is just one of three discussions that will take place this week. Important conversations will take place on January 12 in Brussels and January 13 in Vienna,” Psaki added.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated in Geneva, following the consultations, that Moscow is fed up with negotiations, where its position is misinterpreted and the agreements reached behind closed doors are not implemented. Russia, according to him, can no longer trust the other side, and therefore it demands guarantees with the concepts of “should” and “must”, considering it a matter of its national security. Along with that, Ryabkov said there’s no confidence that even the commitments made by the West would be fulfilled. It’s time for steps towards the West, not Russia.

On January 10, Russia and the United States held talks in Geneva on security guarantees. On January 12, Russia will discuss its security concerns in Europe as well as Russian projects on security guarantees at the Russia-NATO Council meeting in Brussels; on January 13, at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.