'Serious military risks': Russia demanded to close the path to NATO for Ukraine and Georgia, the Alliance was denied

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Russia put forward demands in connection with a new round of escalation around Ukraine and negotiations between Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden. The released statement says that Western countries should take back the promises made to Ukraine and Georgia in 2008 about the prospect of their joining NATO. Writes about it with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

The Alliance Secretary General rejected these demands, accusing Russia of trying to create its own sphere of influence, and the British Foreign Minister warned that an invasion of Ukraine would be a "strategic mistake."

In recent weeks, suspicions that Russia intends to carry out a new invasion of Ukrainian territory have grown more and more. According to the leaders of the United States and NATO, Moscow is concentrating troops on the Ukrainian borders, and its actions indicate the preparation of an offensive operation.

In response to such allegations, Russia claims that the movement of troops on its territory should not bother anyone, but emphasizes that it has the right to protect its national security.

According to intelligence agencies, about 100 Russian troops, tanks and artillery are concentrated in the border regions of the Russian Federation, bordering with Ukraine. According to their information, by the end of January the number of servicemen may grow to 175 thousand people.

This week, Biden and Putin discussed the situation via video link for two hours. The head of the White House warned of dire consequences if Russia launches an offensive. Putin, in response, demanded to ensure that NATO will not expand eastward.

At the same time, on December 11, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G7 countries is to be held. The meeting is dedicated to the demonstration of unity between like-minded people and large economies "against aggression against Ukraine," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told reporters before the talks.

On the subject: Biden told if America is ready to go to war with Russia for Ukraine

Truss warned that the invasion of Ukraine could be a "strategic mistake" followed by "serious economic consequences." Britain and its allies must "convince Russia to abandon this course of action," she said.

What does the Russian Foreign Ministry require?

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Western countries have taken "a course of drawing Ukraine into NATO, which is fraught with the emergence of strike missile systems there with minimal flight time to Central Russia and other destabilizing weapons."

“Such irresponsible behavior creates unacceptable threats to our security and provokes serious military risks for all parties involved, up to and including a large-scale conflict in Europe,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

European countries have repeatedly accused Russia of aggressive actions in a whole range of areas - from the intention to destabilize the situation in the Balkans to hacker attacks and attempts to kill political opponents abroad.

Russia has published a list of requirements, the implementation of which, in its opinion, will reduce tensions:

• officially declare disagreement with the decision of the 2008 NATO Bucharest summit that Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members;
• provide legal guarantees excluding "further NATO advance eastward and the deployment of threatening weapons systems on Russia's western borders";
• ensure that the United States and other NATO members will not deploy strike weapons systems that pose a threat to Russia on the territory of neighboring countries, both NATO and non-NATO members.

In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry proposes to resume the dialogue between the defense ministries along the Russia-US and Russia-NATO lines, as well as to withdraw the areas of operational exercises at an agreed distance from the Russia-NATO contact line.

NATO: Russia wants a sphere of influence

The United States and NATO have repeatedly refused to guarantee that Ukraine and Georgia will never become members of the North Atlantic Alliance, arguing that only these states and members of the Alliance can decide this issue.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has once again rejected Moscow's demands.

“The issue of NATO relations with Ukraine will be decided only by the 30 members of the Alliance and Ukraine - and no one else,” Stoltenberg said. “We cannot agree with Russian attempts to recreate a system in which large powerful countries like Russia have spheres of influence where they have the right to control or decide what others should do.”

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan previously stressed that during the talks, Biden did not make any promises to Putin regarding Ukrainian NATO membership.

“He remains true to the premise that the countries of the world can determine for themselves who they align themselves with,” Sullivan said.

“And there is a barrier”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there is a "barrier" on the country's path to NATO.

“We continue our path to NATO. We’re walking, and there’s a barrier,” he noted.

Ukraine considers joining NATO and the EU as its strategic tasks, in 2019 this was enshrined in the Constitution.

The day after talking with Putin, Biden called Zelenskiy and promised to increase military aid to Kiev, as well as impose tough economic sanctions against Russia if it decided to attack across the Ukrainian border.

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According to a White House statement, Biden warned Putin that the US and allies would respond with decisive economic and other measures in the event of a military escalation.

“The US President spoke about possible sanctions, and our president said that sanctions are not a new thing for Russia, that they have been applied for quite a long time, but do not give any positive effect for either the US or Russia,” Putin’s aide commented. Yuri Ushakov.

The Biden administration has prepared a $ 200 million package of additional military assistance for Ukraine, but has postponed deliveries so far. The delay is attributed to the White House's desire to allow more time for diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions.

It is not yet clear what includes the proposed $ 200 million aid package. It is known that Ukraine has requested air defense systems, anti-ship missiles, more Javelin anti-tank missiles, electronic countermeasures, radar systems, upgraded artillery ammunition and medical supplies.

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