Russia has made clear demands on NATO. The foreign ministers of the alliance states are now open to dialogue. But there also seem to be serious differences of opinion within the alliance.
Brussels / Paris – NATO is ready for a new dialogue with Russia – but also wants to be prepared for a failure of the talks.
“NATO will exchange ideas with Russia in good faith and in substance,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after a video conference with the foreign ministers of the alliance states. “But we also have to be prepared for the possibility that diplomacy will fail.”
The ministers had emphasized that any further aggression by Russia against Ukraine would have significant consequences and a high price for Russia, said Stoltenberg. This included economic sanctions, among other things.
The ministers’ video conference was scheduled at short notice. The background to this is Russian demands for new security agreements and the recent deployment of Russian troops near Ukraine. According to Western intelligence services, this is related to Moscow’s demands and is intended to fuel fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine in order to persuade NATO to make concessions.
Specifically, Moscow wants to ensure that the NATO states undertake to refrain from military action in the territory of Ukraine and other states in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and in Central Asia. In addition, the western military alliance is to declare that it will refrain from further expansion and, in particular, from accepting Ukraine. Russia is also demanding that the US withdraw all US nuclear weapons from third countries. In the course of the so-called nuclear participation of NATO, these were also stationed in Germany.
According to Moscow’s wish, the “security guarantees” are to be laid down in an agreement with NATO and in a treaty with the USA. Russia presented drafts for both agreements in the week before Christmas. Stoltenberg did not specifically respond to the suggestions from Moscow on Friday. At the same time, however, he made it clear that Russia could not decide who would be accepted into NATO and who would not.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock declared: “It is clear to us: Dialogue must take place on the basis of the core principles of the European security order.” We have now agreed on the upcoming dialogue formats with Russia. She was alluding to the fact that negotiators from Moscow and Washington would meet in Geneva in the coming week. A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at ambassador level is also scheduled for Wednesday. The meeting will be the first since July 2019.
Stoltenberg emphasized that NATO would do everything possible to find a political way forward. But in order to have a meaningful dialogue, Russia must also address the longstanding concerns of the Allies. The Norwegian stressed that the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine would continue. Combined with Moscow’s aggressive rhetoric and past experience, this sends the message that there is a real risk of a new armed conflict in Europe.
According to information from Western intelligence circles, Russia had already drawn between 75,000 and 100,000 soldiers in areas not far from Ukraine at the beginning of December 2021. The developments bring back memories of 2014. At that time, Russia had annexed the Crimean peninsula after the coup in Ukraine and began supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine, which is still ongoing.
The deliberations of the foreign ministers were overshadowed by statements by French President Emmanuel Macron. At a press conference in Paris, he indirectly accused the USA of having recently contributed to a deterioration in the security situation in Europe – specifically by terminating the INF treaty to forego land-based medium-range nuclear weapons systems.
“I remember: Due to a unilateral American decision, we are no longer covered by the INF Treaty. This worries many countries, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, ”said Macron. He advocated that the EU should play a much larger role in discussions about Europe’s security architecture.
The statements of the French President are explosive above all because NATO officially backed the United States’ termination of the treaty in 2019. This was justified with the assumption that Russia has been violating the agreement for years with a medium-range system called 9M729 (NATO code: SSC-8).
Macron was open to talking to Russia about new agreements to limit the dangers of medium-range missiles and nuclear weapons. “We cannot stay in this situation. It’s our responsibility, ”he said. dpa
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