Nick Schifrin:
Amna, a senior administration official who simply briefed reporters known as the decision — quote — “critical and substantive,” a form of setup for the tone and tenor for in particular person discussions between the U.S. and Russian and their allies in early January, lasted about 50 minutes and was made on the request of Vladimir Putin, which is uncommon, and passed off after 11:00 p.m. in Moscow.
Now, Putin has made it clear he needs elementary modifications in U.S. and allied coverage, a assure that Ukraine can by no means be a part of NATO, a reversal of NATO growth since 1997, and no U.S. workouts in a lot of Japanese Europe. That might reverse a long time of U.S. coverage. And U.S. officers have made it clear a few of that’s useless on arrival.
However, at the moment, the senior administration official reiterated that the U.S. is raring to listen to Russian considerations and priorities and, in return, will share U.S. considerations and U.S. priorities, most notably, that vast mass of further Russian troops deployed probably not solely close to Ukraine, however actually round Ukraine in 4 totally different spots, as you may see on this map. It is created by U.S. intelligence, which believes that Russia has deliberate for as many as 170,000 troops to invade.
The White Home reiterated that President Biden instructed Putin that diplomatic progress might solely happen within the context of de-escalation of these Russian troops.
And, Amna, a couple of minutes after the decision ended simply earlier than 6:00 p.m. Japanese, Russian state-owned media quoted a senior Russian diplomat as claiming that President Biden promised to not ship any — quote — “offensive weapons” to Ukraine. At this hour, the White Home has not responded to that declare.
However, on the whole, Amna, U.S. officers consult with the weapons they ship to Ukraine as defensive, not offensive.