The meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and its American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, whose purpose was to find formulas to reduce tensions around Ukraine, after alerts grew about a possible invasion that would trigger a conflict of global proportions, was the center of world attention this Friday.
(In Context: Why a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine raises fears of war)
The meeting lasted an hour and a half and it is expected that both will offer separate press conferences to make their own reading of the results and possible steps to follow.
Russia came to the table unwilling to give in on its main demand: that the NATO do not continue its expansion to the east of Europe and that it not deploy troops or weapons, nor continue its military activities in that part of the continent, which would mean excluding any future accession of Ukraine to the Alliance.
After the meeting, U.S promised a written response “next week” to those demands, according to Sergey Lavrov, after what he called “frank” talks with his American counterpart on the crisis in Ukraine.
“We agreed that next week we will be presented with written responses to our proposals,” said Lavrov, who stressed that he and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “agree that a reasonable dialogue is necessary” so that “the calm the emotions.
(Read more: Why does the US accuse Russia of creating a Cold War climate in Ukraine?)
On the other hand, Russia he demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces and their weapons from Bulgaria and Romania, a point included in the security guarantees that Moscow demands to avoid the expansion of NATO and the placement of offensive weapons near its borders.
“It is about the withdrawal of foreign forces, war equipment, weapons (…) with the aim of returning to the state that existed in 1997 in the countries that were not members of NATO at that time. Among them are Bulgaria and Romania “said the diplomatic entity.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian proposals “were formulated in a totally precise way that does not admit any type of double interpretation.”
Last December, Moscow disclosed the drafts of the treaty and the agreement that it proposes to the US and NATO, respectively, to open a new era of security that will put an end to the instability that, according to the Kremlin, brought about the end of the War. Cold and Washington’s sole hegemony over the globe.
Regarding the US, Moscow proposed the signing of a new treaty that excludes the deployment of nuclear weapons outside the borders of both countries and the return to their silos of weapons already deployed before the entry into force of the binding document what it proposes
In an unprecedented proposal, both sides would also commit to the destruction of existing infrastructure abroad, as well as to stop conducting nuclear tests and training civilian and military specialists from other countries.
Russia, in turn, proposed to NATO a nine-point agreement that highlights the demands that the bloc desist from “all military activity” in the territory of Ukraine and several countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
For its part, the United States defended against Russia the freedom of countries to choose whether or not they wish to join the NATO.
The truth is that the Russian proposals were described as an ultimatum by the West, which, however, has defended the possibility of diplomatic dialogue to reduce tensions on the border with Ukraine in the face of the threat of a Russian invasion.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE
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