Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that his government was studying US and NATO responses to its Ukraine-related security demands, but that it was clear that the Kremlin’s main grievances “have been ignored.” ”.
For weeks, Putin has said little publicly about the crisis triggered by the buildup of tens of thousands of Russian troops near Ukraine’s borders, raising fears of a possible invasion.
But at a news conference on Tuesday, after a five-hour meeting in Moscow with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin said: “It is already clear – I have informed the Prime Minister about this – that fundamental Russian concerns have been ignored. It did not see adequate consideration of our three main requirements.”
Putin added that Russia did not see “proper consideration of our three main demands regarding NATO expansion, the relinquishment of deployment of strike weapons systems close to Russian borders and the return of the bloc’s military infrastructure.” [OTAN] in Europe to the status of 1997, when the Russia-NATO founding act was signed.”
Putin also directly accused the US of trying to “drag us into armed conflict” over the Ukraine crisis, using the country as a “tool” for NATO operations. He stated that Washington’s main objective is to force “allies in Europe to impose very tough sanctions against us”, or “to lure Ukraine into NATO”.
The United States and NATO have said Putin’s demands — which include a promise never to expand eastward to countries like Ukraine — violate NATO’s open-door policy and do not initiate negotiations.
Putin offered no solution but said he was open to further negotiations.
“I hope this dialogue continues,” he said; adding: “I hope we eventually find this solution, although it is not easy, and we are aware of that.”
Putin ended the press conference with a brief lecture on what he characterized as NATO’s history of deception, claiming the alliance promised to expand “not even an inch” to the east. “They said one thing, they did another,” Putin said. “As people say, they screwed us up, well they just tricked us.”
Russian officials have made this claim repeatedly in the past; the US and NATO have denied making such promises.
Putin also reiterated his opposition to Ukraine joining NATO and said Kiev was trying to retake Crimea – the Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014 – by military force, potentially pushing the alliance into open conflict with Russia.
“It is [Crimeia] it’s Russia’s sovereign territory, the matter is closed for us,” he said. “Let’s imagine that Ukraine is a NATO country and starts these military operations. So, should we fight the NATO bloc? So has anyone thought about this? It seems not.”
Diplomats from the US, Russia, Ukraine, NATO and the European Union have been involved in a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent weeks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone on Tuesday. After that call, a senior State Department official said Lavrov had not given an indication that Moscow would ease the escalation of the border with Ukraine.
Blinken told Lavrov that if Putin “does not intend war or regime change,” then it is time to withdraw troops and heavy weaponry and engage in serious diplomatic discussions, the official said.
Lavrov responded that the escalation the US claimed was not taking place, the official said, but that it was just Russia moving troops within its own borders.
U.S. State Department officials confirmed on Monday that they “received a written follow-up from Russia” to a proposal document the U.S. sent to the Kremlin last week on how to defuse tensions and pave the way for further security talks in response to Russian security requirements.
On Tuesday, however, the Kremlin said that Russia had not yet sent its “main response” to the US. “There was confusion,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call. “Is it over there [a correspondência russa] considered a different matter. The main answer on this question has not been delivered, it is still being prepared.”
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a press conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on Tuesday.
Johnson accused Russia of “holding a weapon for Ukraine” and warned that a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a “humanitarian” and “political disaster”.
“The potential invasion completely contradicts President Putin’s claims that he is acting in the interests of the Ukrainian people,” Johnson said.
Zelensky said that if a war between Russia and Ukraine starts, it will be a “major war in Europe”, adding that “there will be no occupation of any territory or city in Ukraine… our country begins.”
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
