Stoltenberg announced the possibility of a political solution to the situation around Ukraine

Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg said that there is a possibility of a political solution to the situation around Ukraine and taking into account “Russia’s concerns.”

“It is possible to find a political solution, to take into account Russia’s concerns. But the risk of conflict remains, ”he said in an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times.

The secretary of state also warned about NATO’s “deterrent measures” in case of aggravation of relations between the alliance and the Russian Federation. The North Atlantic Alliance, Stoltenberg stressed, “will hope for the best and work hard in this direction, but it will also prepare for the worst.”

At the same time, he expressed the readiness of NATO and the United States to discuss measures to reduce the risk with the Russian Federation. Among them, the secretary of state included arms control, efforts to ensure greater transparency in military activities, as well as strengthening channels of communication.

At the same time, he pointed to the unacceptability of Russia’s demands to exclude Ukraine from joining NATO. This condition does not correspond to the “basic principles” of the alliance, Stoltenberg is convinced.

Earlier that day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov pointed out that a positive result of Russia’s dialogue with the United States and NATO on security guarantees would be confirmation of the readiness to work on the proposals put forward by the Russian Federation. At the same time, he stressed that in the absence of agreements on security, Russia will be forced to use other means to ensure the necessary balance of forces and deterrent “intimidation of opponents.”

On January 9, a Russian delegation arrived in Geneva to participate in talks with the United States on security guarantees. The interdepartmental delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. On the part of the Russian diplomatic service, it is headed by Ryabkov. American diplomacy will be represented by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. The Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation indicated that the West should, on a unilateral basis, abandon NATO expansion, as well as liquidate the formed military infrastructure.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova specified that the first round of Russian-American talks in Geneva is scheduled for the evening of January 9th. The main day of the talks is scheduled for Monday, January 10th.

As Ryabkov noted, Moscow is going to the meeting “not with outstretched hand”, the Russian side has a “clearly formulated task” that it will solve on its own terms. The deputy minister also noted that Russia is not optimistic on the eve of negotiations with the United States.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia and the United States and NATO on security guarantees. It follows from the documents that the alliance should refuse to conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Also, Russia and NATO commit themselves not to create conditions that could be regarded as a threat by the other side.

The Russian side has repeatedly denied statements by Western politicians about an allegedly planned “invasion” of Ukraine. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov pointed out that such messages are “empty, groundless escalation of tension.”

Also in Moscow, they criticized discussions about the supply of weapons to Ukraine. In November, Peskov stressed that NATO should stop provocative activities near the borders of the Russian Federation, and also stop “pumping up Ukraine with modern weapons.” He added that the West is artificially whipping up hysteria.