The North Atlantic Alliance does not agree with the need to withdraw its military from NATO member countries that have replenished the organization since 1997. This was announced on Sunday, January 16, by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with the Canadian television channel CBC News.
“Of course, we will not agree to exclude NATO troops from countries that have joined the alliance since 1997. This will mean that half of the member countries will not be protected by NATO troops. Then they are obtained, as it were, by second-class NATO members. We will never allow this,” he said.
Stoltenberg stressed that NATO allies will not be able to compromise the key principles of European, national security and the fact that each country decides for itself whether to be a member of NATO or not.
A series of consultations between Russia and the West on security guarantees took place this week. They were held in three stages: on January 10, a meeting of the delegations of the Russian Federation and the United States took place in Geneva, on January 12, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was held in Brussels, and on January 13, consultations were completed at the Vienna site of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov assessed the results of Russia’s negotiations with the United States and NATO. According to him, the past discussions have not yet yielded significant results.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Jens Stoltenberg during a telephone conversation on January 14 expressed their readiness to conduct new negotiations with Russia. They stressed their commitment to continuing diplomatic interaction and reciprocal dialogue.
On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointed to the slowness of the United States in providing responses to the proposals of the Russian Federation. He stressed that the US and NATO want to “wind up” the process of security guarantees. Russia is waiting for written answers and is ready for any development of events, the minister added.
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.
