Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about the content of Washington’s response to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees. According to him, the Americans did not touch upon the most important points for the Russian Federation, but retained the opportunity to continue the dialogue. His words are published on site Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
There is no positive reaction on the main issue in this document. The main issue is our clear position on the inadmissibility of further NATO expansion to the east and the deployment of strike weapons that could threaten the territory of the Russian Federation.
Sergey Lavrov Russian Foreign Minister
The diplomat recalled that questions about NATO’s non-expansion to the east are a long history that has been going on since the early 1990s. He said that at first the United States promised not to include countries east of the Oder River in the alliance, but this obligation was violated.
NATO denies such commitments and calls on Russia to de-escalate
At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeatedly denied that the alliance had ever made such promises to Russia. Moreover, he noted that every country has the right to self-determination.
After sending a response to the Russian Foreign Ministry on January 26, Stoltenberg indicated that tensions on the border between Ukraine and Russia continue to grow. He urged Moscow to immediately de-escalate and said that the North Atlantic Alliance was amassing forces on the eastern flank in order to provide its allies with the necessary security guarantees, as well as to “monitor the situation.” He called it work on the de-escalation of the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border.
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Lavrov spoke about the imminent leak of the US response
Answering a question about whether Moscow would publish the American response, the minister noted that not only Russia and the United States, but also American allies and Ukraine are familiar with it. “There is no doubt that in the very near future he [ответ] “leak,” he suggested.
For example, The New York Times has already published summary of US and NATO responses. According to sources familiar with the transferred documents, the parties made it clear that Russia does not have the right to veto the presence of nuclear weapons, troops or conventional weapons in the countries of the alliance.
As The Washington Post previously reported, US officials asked their Russian counterparts not to publish Washington’s written response to Moscow’s security guarantee proposals.
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An unnamed State Department official acknowledged that the Russian authorities might do otherwise. Nevertheless, following the results of negotiations with his American counterpart Anthony Blinken, Lavrov, on the contrary, refused to publish the American response without Washington’s permission.
Putin to decide on Moscow’s next steps
Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to decide how to respond to US and NATO letters on security assurances. At the same time, the president has personally read the responses of the parties.
Lavrov himself added that Russia will seek clarification from Western states on the implementation of the decisions of the summits of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the topic of non-expansion of NATO. We are talking about points that say that the exercise of the right to freedom of choice of military alliances should not infringe on the security interests of other countries.
Lavrov also noted that the US position on this issue is crafty. “The principle that one cannot strengthen one’s security at the expense of the security of others is deliberately hushed up,” the diplomat said.
Russia evaluates the possibility of supplying weapons to the DPR and LPR
A number of Russian politicians have suggested that the response to Russia’s refusal to comply with Russia’s security guarantee proposals could be the supply of arms to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
The Russian side has repeatedly drawn the attention of Western partners to the fact that the parties to the conflict in eastern Ukraine are in unequal conditions, since Kiev is supplied with a huge amount of weapons, instructors and financial assistance. Moreover, any proposals of the republics on the implementation of the Minsk agreements are always rejected, they say in Moscow.
Donbass, like a fish on ice, beats to fulfill (Minsk agreements – approx. “Tapes.ru”), there are a lot of all sorts of meaningful initiatives, road maps, draft laws, proposals for a truce, proposals for an exchange, proposals for opening a checkpoint (entry-exit checkpoints – approx. “Tapes.ru”) – they are all ignored just because they come from the Donbass
Dmitry Kozak Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation
In addition, it is assumed that this may provoke Ukrainian aggression against Russia. In this regard, the first vice-speaker of the Federation Council, Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Andrey Turchak proposed arming the LPR and DPR. This idea was supported by the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, stressing that the Ukrainian side is actively preparing for the offensive.
Commenting on this proposal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that both he and the Russian president are aware of this idea. “He [Владимир Путин] understands how sensitive this topic is for United Russia. Now there is no reaction from the president to such initiatives,” Peskov said.
In turn, Lavrov, commenting on the words of Turchak, recalled: Moscow is a supporter of compliance with the Minsk agreements, and it would prefer the West to ensure their implementation by Kiev.
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