Member of the Federation Council Alexei Pushkov caught US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in ignorance of history. In his Telegram-channel, the politician commented on Blinken’s words that NATO allegedly never promised Russia not to expand to the East.
Before the unification of Germany, what was then for the United States and its president [Джорджа] Bush senior top priority, Blinken’s predecessor, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker said [первому президенту СССР Михаилу] Gorbachev and [министру иностранных дел СССР Эдуарду] Shevardnadze that in the event of German reunification, the United States was ready to pledge that NATO “will not move an inch to the east”
The politician believes that Gorbachev made a strategic miscalculation by not obliging the United States and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to fix this on paper.
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According to him, at present the Russian side is demanding “legally fixed guarantees”, since the words of the former Western leaders “are of little value.” “The new ones prefer not to remember them. That once again proves Blinken’s statement, ”he said.
US position
Anthony Blinken said during a press conference at the State Department that the North Atlantic Alliance has never made promises to Moscow not to expand to the East.
NATO has never promised not to admit new members. It could not and would not do this: the open door policy was a key provision of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, which resulted in the founding of NATO.
According to the politician, “the narrative that NATO threatens Russia” is false. He also rejected claims that NATO plans to establish military infrastructure in Ukraine to use against Russia.
In addition, a senior US State Department official said media reports about the United States’ readiness to discuss with Russia the possibility of withdrawing NATO forces from Eastern Europe is inaccurate.
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According to her, the State Department does not expect a reduction in forces in Europe and does not discuss with Moscow the number of military personnel in the Baltic States and Poland. It is also noted that Washington, on the contrary, informs the Russian authorities that in the event of an escalation of the situation on the Ukrainian border, NATO will strengthen the eastern flank, since the alliance “will have to fulfill its sacred obligation to its allies.”
NATO pledge
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in response to reporter Kim Simmons’ accusations of deepening opposition to the alliance on the part of Moscow, recalled the US promise to Mikhail Gorbachev not to expand NATO eastward.
Simmons asked where the promise was made. In his opinion, NATO is conducting maneuvers in response to Russian exercises and “playing on the defensive.”
You are well done! That’s right, they deceived the fool with four fists – that’s what the people say here. Everything must be fixed on paper
In December, Yuri Ushakov, the Russian president’s foreign policy aide, recalled NATO’s assurances not to push the alliance towards Russia.
This is the beard question. Verbal assurances were given to the USSR and Russia that NATO would not move eastward towards Russian territory. Verbal assurances turned out to be worthless
Ushakov noted that a “certain fixation” was made on the promises of the leadership of the alliance, and the Russian side has a record of the corresponding conversations.
At the same time, the North Atlantic Alliance has already recognized the fact of the promise. However, NATO claims that it was given before the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and the idea of joining the countries from this bloc to the alliance “was not on the agenda in 1989.”
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