The talks this week are a high-stakes standoff between Russia and NATO, with the US of course taking the lead role for NATO. There has been no shortage of speculation about the intentions of the Russians in this situation. It has been clear for years, decades actually, that the NATO enlargement would likely produce some kind of Russia reaction. It is also surely part of the current round of Russian provacation of massing troops on the border to Ukraine to test the Biden Administration's response to a (still-) controlled crisis situation.
The letter to Biden invokes the Administration's own stated intentions:
We agree with Secretary of State Tony Blinken that “[d]iplomacy is the only responsible way to resolve this potential crisis.” We share his view that the “most promising avenue for diplomacy is for Russia and Ukraine to return to dialogue in the context of the Minsk II agreements,” and are encouraged that both the Putin and Zelenskyy administrations have reaffirmed their commitment to Minsk. The Minsk II accords would demilitarize the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine and guarantee meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders. The United States should press both Ukraine and Russia to implement a workable version of the Minsk accords. [my emphasis]The 15 organizations endorsing the letter include:
- Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
- Just Foreign Policy
- Beyond the Bomb
- Common Defense
- Concerned Veterans for America
- Defense Priorities
- Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
- Global Zero
- Physicians for Social Responsibility
- Peace Action
- Progressive Democrats of America
- American Committee for US-Russia Accord
- RootsAction
- Veterans Global Peace Network
- Veterans for Peace
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