Assistant to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov spoke about the key topics of the talks between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Joe Biden, which ended at 20:06 Moscow time on Saturday, February 12.
“Today’s conversation took place in an atmosphere of unprecedented hysteria by US officials about Russia’s supposedly imminent invasion of Ukraine. By the way, referring to the likelihood of such a catastrophic scenario, the American side requested today’s telephone contact of the presidents, although it was planned for Monday. Similar requests for urgent phone calls have been made by other members of the administration, who have spoken yesterday and today with many Russian colleagues. The escalation around the topic of the invasion was carried out in a coordinated manner, and the hysteria reached its climax, an aide to the Russian leader said at a press conference.
Ushakov mentioned that Biden referred to predecessors who during the Cold War did everything to avoid conflict, and emphasized the importance of following their example in order to exclude the worst-case scenario in the situation around Ukraine. He suggested several ways to do this.
According to Ushakov, Putin took note of Biden’s considerations, they will be analyzed, but noted with regret that these considerations do not affect key elements of Russian initiatives: neither on NATO expansion, nor on the non-deployment of strike forces on Ukrainian territory, nor on a return to the configuration of forces. alliance by the state of 1997, when the founding act of Russia-NATO was signed, Moscow did not receive a clear answer.
Biden also mentioned tough anti-Russian sanctions in the event of an escalation of the situation around Ukraine, but the emphasis during the conversation was not on this.
“Putin outlined the fundamental approaches of the Russian side and explained why questions arose on security guarantees. He noted that during the Cold War, the USSR and the USA were opponents, and in the 90s they seemed to be friends, but the USA and NATO pursued an unconstructive line towards Russia. Then the expansion of the sphere of activity of the alliance began, and it approached the borders of the Russian Federation. Degradation occurred in the 2000s [отношений] and concerned the security of our country,” continued Ushakov.
He said that Putin also highlighted Ukraine’s destructive line on the Minsk agreements. The Russian leader emphasized the lack of proper pressure from the West on Kiev in order to fulfill the Minsk obligations. Putin also drew Biden’s attention to the danger of Ukraine’s militarization and the West’s encouragement of it. Given Ukraine’s intentions to join NATO, this raises concerns because of the prospect of confrontation between NATO and the Russian Federation.
“On the whole, the presidents agreed that the considerations expressed by Biden would be carefully considered in Moscow. In the coming week, the presidents agreed that contacts in various areas will continue, the issues raised by Biden and our concerns set out in two draft documents will be discussed, ”Ushakov summed up.
The conversation between Putin and Biden came amid US allegations of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine next week during the Beijing Olympics.
On February 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, said that the propaganda campaign launched by the United States and its allies about “Russian aggression” against Ukraine pursues provocative goals, thereby encouraging the authorities in Kiev to sabotage the Minsk agreements and harmful attempts to resolve by force “Problems of Donbass”.
On February 11, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented examples of publications in the Western media, which, as part of a large-scale disinformation campaign, contribute to the spread of the thesis about the so-called impending “Russian invasion of Ukraine”. Diplomats are confident that the authorities of Western countries and the media are working together to escalate artificial tension around Ukraine, using the massive stuffing of false information in geopolitical interests.
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.
