NATO must cease military activities in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, which is an important condition for a detente in the relationship between the United States and European allies on the one hand and Russia on the other. The Kremlin has Friday published a list of security guarantees which it has submitted to those parties. Tensions between NATO and Russia have been mounting rapidly in recent weeks; the alliance accuses Russia of building up a military force on the border with Ukraine to invade that country.
Last week, US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in a digital meeting in an effort to draw closer. Even before that conversation, Putin submitted several demands, including security guarantees around Ukraine: that neighboring country may never join NATO, and the military alliance may not use the country for training or deploy heavy military equipment there. Those demands were rejected in advance by Biden.
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In the documents made public on Friday you can read how exactly the points have been included. The documents are drafts of two treaties, one addressed to the US and the other intended for NATO signature. Nine points are cited. In addition to the Russian veto on Ukrainian accession and further expansion of NATO, Russia also wants to reduce activities in the Baltic and Black Seas. Placing missile systems in places from which the territory of the other can be hit is out of the question.
NATO ‘in the know’
Moscow denies that it wants to invade Ukraine. A spokesman for Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday that relations have reached a “dangerous point” at the hands of “unacceptable” activities by Western allies. The Kremlin therefore wants to immediately start negotiations on the submitted demands, Reuters news agency reported. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday evening ‘to be aware’ of the Russian proposals. As far as he is concerned, any discussion can only take place “on the basis of reciprocity, if NATO’s concerns about Russia’s actions are also discussed.”
In her response, White House spokesman Jen Psaki recalled that the US and Russia are consulting each other in multiple contexts. In that light, she saw no reason “why we can’t do that to reduce instability.” But: “We will do that in cooperation and coordination with our European allies and partners.” She seemed to rule out completely ‘detached’ negotiations, based on the two documents from the Russians.
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