[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia began negotiations on the Ukraine issue on the 12th (local time).
Ambassadors from the 30 NATO member countries and senior Russian officials held a NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, exchanging views on the Ukraine issue.
On the Russian side, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin led the delegation. From the U.S. side, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who led the U.S.-Russia negotiations on the 10th, also attended. The meeting was chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The negotiations, expected to last about three hours, are anticipated to see NATO reiterate concerns about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. According to foreign media, Russia is expected to once again press its previously presented security guarantee demands.
Earlier, the U.S. and Russia held working-level talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 10th. On the 13th, negotiations between the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Russia are scheduled to take place in Vienna, Austria.
According to U.S. intelligence agencies, Russia may launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine as early as the beginning of this year. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Recently, it deployed approximately 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border.
Russia denies preparations for an invasion of Ukraine, claiming that the West is conducting propaganda to create a pretext for strengthening military support to Ukraine. At the same time, Russia is urging the West, including the U.S., to provide legally binding guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO and that NATO will not deploy weapons in Ukraine.
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