Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) not expand eastward is a fair one. The corresponding statement was made on Sunday, February 20, by the MEP and leader of the French National Rally party Jordan Bardella.
“Russia and its President Vladimir Putin rightly demand from NATO that the alliance does not approach Russian borders,” he said.
In support of his words, Bardella cited a promise given in 1991 by the American administration to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to abandon NATO’s eastward advance.
Contrary to this agreement, the MEP summed up, the United States, “as a gendarme of the world, striving for expansion, approached the borders of the Russian Federation, following the logic of the Cold War.”
At the same time, he expressed the opinion that it is impossible to fight with Russia, on the contrary, it is necessary to “get rid of the anti-Russian syndrome” and look for a balanced approach in the development of political ties.
Earlier in the day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in turn, said that the promise not to expand the alliance eastward had not been broken. He noted that there are no official obstacles to the entry of Eastern European countries into the bloc.
At the same time, on February 18, the German publication Der Spiegel reported the discovery of an archival document containing information about the non-expansion of NATO to the east, which was given by the political director of the West German Foreign Ministry, Jürgen Hrobog. He stated that there would be no expansion of NATO beyond the Elbe and the Oder River.
In addition, US representative Raymond Seitz also noted that the alliance should not expand to the east either formally or unofficially.
As ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern emphasized, the discovered archival document, which contains information about NATO’s non-expansion to the east, looks like “decisive evidence” of the lies of the West.
In December, the American political scientist Ariel Cohen assured that the West did not promise Russia not to expand NATO to the east. According to him, such papers “never existed.”
On February 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO promised not to move its infrastructure to the east, but now the bloc includes the Baltic countries, Poland and Romania. The head of state pointed out that Russia was “thrown” after the collapse of the USSR, breaking the promise.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia, the United States and NATO on security guarantees. The document assumes, in particular, non-expansion of NATO to the east, withdrawal of the alliance’s weapons to the positions of 1997, as well as non-deployment of strike weapons near Russian borders.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
