An open door policy runs counter to NATO’s interests, as enlargement increases the alliance’s vulnerability. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Izvestia about this on Sunday, December 19.
“The big threat from the east – who? Poland, Hungary? Did they not know that the NATO countries in the Baltic are connected through the Suwalki Corridor? They knew. And they themselves got geographic vulnerability. This is due to the actions of NATO itself. How do they fix it? The fact that they are now deploying their forces there, but this is already in the immediate vicinity of St. Petersburg. If they continue to move in this direction, then this is a direct path to a scenario that we must avoid, ”said Grushko.
According to him, “reliable sources even in the West do not confirm that there (on the border with Ukraine. – Ed.) Any events that pose a threat are being carried out.”
“The very fact that NATO believes that it can demand to withdraw troops that are 1 thousand kilometers from the borders of the alliance, and when we tell them to withdraw troops from our borders, they pretend that they are offended, says that NATO is an alliance democratic states and no one can question this, ”said the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.
According to him, the Russian Federation has already formed a negotiating team, which is ready at any time to begin substantive work on the text of the draft agreement, which Moscow will discuss with NATO.
“This is a bilateral agreement on security guarantees, which is of key nature, since this is the axis on which other agreements will be strung. If we proceed from the fact that NATO is working on a consensus basis, the position of the United States will be decisive, ”concluded Grushko.
Earlier that day, German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht said NATO had discussed Russia’s proposals for security guarantees. She noted that Moscow will not be able to impose its views on the alliance.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia and the United States and NATO on security guarantees. As follows from the documents, in particular, the alliance should refuse to conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on December 18 that Russia had offered the United States to hold talks on security guarantees exclusively on a bilateral basis, stressing that the participation of other countries would make them meaningless.
On the same day it became known that the United States was going to give a response to the RF proposals on security guarantees next week. According to a White House source, the US presidential administration found some of the proposals useful and others unacceptable.
Articles about the allegedly possible Russian invasion have repeatedly appeared in the Western media. So, on November 19, The New York Times reported that the US administration had warned the allies about the alleged plans of the Russian Federation to attack the territory of Ukraine and called for new anti-Russian measures to be prepared.
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.
