A senior US official said on Saturday that the US and allies are prepared to discuss with Russia the possibility of each side restricting military exercises and missile deployments in the region.
The Biden administration official said that the US was not willing to discuss limits on US troop deployments or the US force posture in Nato countries in the region with crucial talks set to start on Monday in Geneva.
Joe Biden warned that Russia would face severe economic consequences if Vladimir Putin were to launch an invasion of Ukraine. On Saturday, US officials gave more details on sanctions that could be imposed.
One restriction, as described by a source familiar with the plan, could target critical industrial sectors including defense and civil aviation, and would hit Russia's high-tech ambitions, such as artificial intelligence or quantum computing, or even consumer electronics.
The Geneva talks, which are to be followed by other sessions in Brussels and Vienna next week, are aimed at averting a crisis. There have been tens of thousands of troops gathered along the border with Ukraine, which has sparked fears of an invasion.
It remains unclear whether the US and its European allies can make progress in the talks with Moscow. Putin wants an end to Nato's eastward expansion and security guarantees, demands the US says are unacceptable.
A senior US official, briefing reporters ahead of the talks, said that some areas presented opportunities for common ground.
The official said that any discussion of those overlapping areas where we might be able to make progress would have to be reciprocal. Both sides would have to make the same commitment. Russia feels threatened by the prospect of the US military deployment of offensive missile systems in Ukraine, even though Biden has assured Putin he has no intention of doing so.
The official said that this is one area where we might be able to reach an agreement if Russia is willing to make a reciprocal commitment.
The US was willing to discuss restrictions on military exercises by both sides, the official said.
The official said that they are willing to look into the possibility of reciprocal restrictions on the size and scope of such exercises, including strategic bombers close to each other's territory and ground-based exercises.
The official said Washington was open to a discussion on missile deployment in the region. In January of this year, Donald Trump resigned from the US-Russia Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987, amid accusations that Moscow was violating it.
A senior Biden administration official said penalties being investigated in the case of a Russian invasion would not start low and would be tightened over time.
Instead, we would adopt a start high, stay high approach in which we would immediately impose severe and overwhelming costs on the Russian economy, including its financial system and sectors that are critical to the Kremlin, the official said.
The US had been discussing a number of trade restrictions with allies and partners in Europe and Asia, a source familiar with the planning said.
The restrictions under consideration could affect US products export to Russia and certain foreign-made products subject to US jurisdiction, but there isn't yet a decision.
Russia could be added to the most restrictive group of countries for export control purposes, with Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria. These actions could also restrict export of products made abroad if they contain more than a specified percentage of US content.
The rule used for the Chinese telecom company Huawei is used in the US to export microelectronics designed with US software or technology and produced using US equipment to Russia.