The North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) stands ready to listen to Russia’s security concerns, but expects Moscow to hear the concerns of the alliance as well. This was announced on Friday, January 7, by the organization’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, following the results of the virtual meetings of the foreign ministers of the bloc countries.
According to him, NATO allies will conduct “a dialogue on security with Russia directly and openly, but there is always a risk that diplomacy will not bring results.”
“We are ready to discuss arms control with Russia, over conventional and nuclear. But this must be done in a bilateral, balanced and verifiable way. Therefore, balanced, verifiable arms control – yes, but unilateral demands on NATO – no, ”Stoltenberg told reporters.
He added that the foreign ministers of the NATO countries before the meeting of the RF-NATO Council confirmed the unity of the positions of the alliance members on security and defense issues.
In recent weeks, a number of Western media outlets have reported about the alleged plans of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine. So, on December 4, the American newspaper The Washington Post, citing officials in the US administration, reported that Russia allegedly intends to invade Ukraine at the beginning of next year, using “up to 175 thousand troops.”
Moscow has repeatedly rejected such information. So, on December 23, during a press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin added that because of such statements, one gets the impression that the Ukrainian side is “preparing a third operation” in Donbass.
Russian-American talks on strategic stability and security issues will be held on January 10 in Geneva. Thereafter, on January 12, the issue of European security and the situation in Ukraine will be discussed at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council and on January 13 with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
On the eve of this round of consultations, on the night of December 31, Putin had a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden. As the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov noted, this conversation became a logical continuation of the talks held in the online Russia-US summit in early December.
After the phone call, Biden said he expects progress from the upcoming rounds of talks. The head of the White House stressed that during the upcoming talks with Russia, the parties will discuss mutual concerns.
In response to a question about whether sanctions against Moscow could follow if Russian troops remain on the border with Ukraine, Biden said that he did not intend to discuss the details of the negotiations publicly.
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.
