The inclusion of Ukraine in the North Atlantic Alliance is one of the directions of the concept of Western countries to contain Russia. This opinion was expressed on Thursday, January 13, by Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel.
“You know, this is that part of the concept of containment of Russia, for which the West, and especially the United States, have now allocated huge funds. On the one hand, this is a political, economic deterrence, on the other hand, it turns into military forms and, through the development of Ukrainian territory, NATO literally forces us to take countermeasures that are completely unnecessary for us,” the diplomat said, answering the question why NATO needs Ukraine.
According to him, Moscow will respond to threats with counter-threats, deterrence with counter-containment, sanctions with counter-sanctions, and so on.
“Do we need all this today? Not at all. Quite different challenges are facing us – climate, terrorist. But this is a distraction of forces, you have to do completely unnecessary things that divert huge resources, ”concluded Kelin.
The ambassador also said that Russia would not make any concessions in the negotiations between the US and NATO on security guarantees. The head of the Russian diplomatic mission explained that in return Moscow was being offered a conversation on a number of aspects of European security: arms control, a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe, as well as transparency and confidence-building measures. According to him, Moscow’s key and fundamental demand for non-expansion of NATO, according to which it must receive clear legal guarantees, should be dissolved in this set.
Earlier in the day, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was generally clear on the outcome of Russia-NATO talks on security guarantees. According to him, we will have to wait for the promised written statements of the opponents.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia, the United States and NATO on security guarantees. It follows from the documents that the alliance must renounce any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Also, Russia and NATO must pledge not to create conditions that may be regarded by the other side as a threat.
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.
