No Ukraine breakthrough, but NATO and Russia eye more talks

The United States and NATO on Wednesday rejected key Russian security demands for easing tensions over Ukraine but left open the possibility of future talks with Moscow on arms control, missile deployments and ways to prevent military incidents between Russia and the West.

The decisions came at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, the first of its kind in over two years. That Russia's delegation did not walk out of the talks and remained open to the prospect of future meetings despite the West rebuffing central demands were seen as positive notes in a week of high-level meetings aimed at staving off a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants NATO to withdraw its troops and military equipment from countries neighboring Russia, which includes Ukraine but also NATO allies like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Putin also wants the 30-nation military alliance to agree not to admit any more members.

Speaking after the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed that some of Putin's security demands “are simply non-starters.”

“We will not slam the door shut on NATO's open-door policy,” she told reporters after almost four hours of talks. “We are not going to agree that NATO cannot expand any further.”