MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented US President Joe Biden with a request for legally binding security guarantees that would impede NATO’s expansion, the Kremlin said on Tuesday after a videoconference between the two leaders.
During two hours of talks with Biden, Putin said that NATO is increasing its military potential in regions close to Russia’s borders, “making dangerous attempts to conquer Ukrainian territory,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“Therefore, Russia is seriously interested in obtaining credible, legally stipulated guarantees to rule out NATO’s eastward expansion and deployment of offensive weapons systems in states adjacent to Russia.”
Russian officials said that NATO’s growing ties with Ukraine and the possibility that the alliance could deploy missiles on Ukrainian territory with the aim of hitting Russia represent a “red line” that cannot be crossed.
Putin also told his American counterpart that he wanted assurances that offensive attack systems would not be deployed in countries close to Russia, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin announced that Putin had submitted the demands in response to threats against Moscow should current tensions over Ukraine escalate.
Putin also echoed accusations made by the Russian government that Ukraine was taking a “destructive” path with the aim of dismantling 2014 and 2015 agreements aimed at ending the conflict with Russian-backed separatists.
(Reporting by Daria Korsunskaya, Andrew Osborn, Vladimir Soldatkin)
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