From: slider@anashram.com

The United States said it had offered a “diplomatic path forward” in the standoff with Russia over Ukraine. On Thursday the Kremlin said it saw
little grounds for optimism.

With the ball now back in Moscow's court, the West was given little
immediate sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin would seek to
de-escalate tensions and allay fears of a deadly new conflict.

Russia warned it was pessimistic but indicated it would take its time to
study the written responses from the U.S. and NATO before deciding how to
move forward.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-nato-russia-demands-ukraine-invasion-diplomacy-rcna13741

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were “few reasons for optimism” after the Western allies made it clear they would not accede to Russia's key asks, but urged against a rush to conclusions.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters there was hope for "the
start of a serious conversation” but clearly not on the fundamental issues raised by Russia, whose demands amounted to an effort to redraw Europe's post-Cold War security landscape.

In a series of bold security demands last month, the Kremlin urged NATO to
deny membership to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. They were issued as
Moscow massed forces near its neighbor’s borders and warned of
"retaliatory measures" should there be “no constructive response” from the U.S. and its allies. Russia has denied planning any attack.

After Washington delivered its written response on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was “no change” in the Biden administration’s position that NATO maintains its open-door policy for countries to join the trans-Atlantic alliance. He did not offer specifics
about the response, which he said won’t be released publicly.

NATO also conveyed its written proposals to Russia, NATO Secretary General
Jens Stoltenberg said late Wednesday.

Stoltenberg called on Russia to “immediately de-escalate the situation,” but said the alliance was prepared to listen to Russia’s concerns and
engage in “a real conversation” on how to uphold and strengthen the fundamental principles of European security.

Russia is holding a series of military drills throughout its territory
this week, including exercises in the southern Rostov region, not far from
the Ukrainian border.Sergey Pivovarov / Reuters
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev took a softer line as he also
weighed in on Thursday, saying Russia and the U.S. must engage in
diplomacy to avoid war.

Medvedev, a trusted ally of Putin who served as president from 2008-2012,
told state news agency Ria that it was "obvious here that the most
important and single route is actually to come to agreement on security guarantees."

The idea of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO over Ukraine
would be a “catastrophic scenario,” he added. “I just hope it never happens,.”

Russia held talks in Paris on Wednesday with diplomats from Ukraine,
France and Germany to defuse broader tensions in a long-standing conflict
in eastern Ukraine, in which Moscow has been supporting pro-Russian
separatists fighting Kyiv's forces in the region.

No breakthroughs followed the eight-hour talks, but the parties agreed to reconvene in Berlin, Germany in two weeks.

This "means that Russia for the next two weeks is likely to remain on the diplomatic track," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on
Thursday.

But amid the diplomacy, Russia continued to enlarge its military presence
near its borders with Ukraine, intelligence and defense officials told NBC News.

The officials said there are now 62 Russian battalion tactical groups in
the area, up from 59 at this time last week — with several more on the
way. This does not include the Russian forces that have been gathering in Belarus. Moscow and Minsk, a close ally of Russia, say the troop movement
is for joint drills next month, but the buildup along another of Ukraine's borders puts more forces in a position to join a potential military
action, the officials said.

Intelligence officials have consistently said they don’t know whether
Putin has made up his mind to invade Ukraine, but they have continued to
assess an increasing probability of invasion as the crisis has continued
to unfold without a diplomatic resolution.

### - not much new news then other than the obvious thing of russia being
none too pleased about being refused point blank on 'all' its major
security points...

in fact (plus oddly enough) there's almost a kinda 'sad' vibe to their reaction? a kinda resignation as though they feel somehow sad as opposed
to enraged about it? (an odd/strange reaction on their part anyway, let's
just hope it's not war they're feeling resigned about huh...)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)