This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. Josep Borrell, a high Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will be in Ukraine for a two-day visit. The EU's most senior commissioner will first visit the eastern front of the country bordering Russia, where Russian-backed separatists are fighting Ukrainian forces.
He will then move to Kiev to meet with government officials. The trip comes after US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke last week to find a solution to Russia's military build-up. White House National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said that Mr Biden had spoken to leaders across Europe about the situation on the Ukraine border, while Biden administration officials were in touch with NATO, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. There was a feeling in the EU that the bloc could be left out of the negotiations that are supposed to begin in January between Russia and the US.
Borrell complained last week that the bloc should have a seat at the table. He told German daily Welt : If Moscow wants to talk about security architecture in Europe and security guarantees from January, then this is not just a matter that concerns America and Russia. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has scheduled a special meeting with allied ambassadors and top Russian officials for next week, as both sides seek dialogue to prevent open conflict over Ukraine, a NATO official said on Tuesday. The Western military alliance, concerned about Russia's military build-up along Ukraine's border, has been trying to get a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council for months, but it seems to be in jeopardy after an espionage dispute in October.
The council's meeting, a format used for dialogue since 2002, will take place in Brussels on January 12 after US and Russian officials hold security talks on January 10 in Geneva. Moscow wants to know that NATO will halt its eastward expansion and end military cooperation with Ukraine and Georgia, which have territorial disputes with Russia. Moscow denies US assertions that it is planning an invasion of Ukraine and accuses Kiev of building up its own forces in the east of the country. A NATO official said that any dialogue with Russia would have to proceed on the basis of reciprocity, address NATO's concerns about Russia's actions. The European partners of NATO and NATO are in consultation with each other.