Moldova (bbabo.net), - Negotiations in the format of the Russia-NATO Council ended today in Brussels. It was held for the first time in 2.5 years at the initiative of our country and became the second stage of a serious discussion with the West on security issues in Europe. The first such meeting was held on Monday in Geneva, the dialogue was led by the delegations of the Russian Federation and the United States.
Recall that in December Moscow sent Washington a package of documents in which it strictly demanded to provide legally sound guarantees of NATO non-expansion to our borders, to withdraw American forces from the territory of the countries that joined the alliance after 1997, and not to deploy strike weapons in Europe that could threaten the Russian Federation. Special mention was made of Ukraine: the appearance of NATO bases there, and even more so plans to take the country into the bloc, were equated with "red lines" beyond which Russia does not intend to retreat.
In Geneva, the Americans made it clear that they were not going to take into account our concerns, but they didn’t particularly look for trouble either. Both they and we have demonstrated their readiness to firmly defend their positions and have not moved from them. Today's four-hour discussion with NATO members at the bloc's headquarters in Brussels has not changed this picture.
“There are serious differences between NATO allies and Russia on these issues,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said following the talks.
He said that the Russian Federation cannot veto Ukraine's entry into the bloc, and NATO is ready to provide assistance to Kiev. “All members are united in the fact that each state has the right to choose its own path. Only Ukraine and 30 allies in the alliance can decide when Ukraine is ready to become a NATO member, no one else,” the Secretary General said.
This pompous support for Ukrainian sovereignty looked especially piquant after a couple of days ago, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrogantly demanded that the leadership of sovereign Kazakhstan provide Washington with an explanation of why Nur-Sultan turned to the CSTO for help, "where the Russians run it."
The West also refused to discuss the issue of curtailing American troops. But on the third Russian demand - about the non-deployment of strike systems in Europe - the US and NATO seem to be ready to seek agreements.
However, these negotiations may take a long time, and what demands the Westerners will “roll out” of us in response, nothing is known yet.
“We are ready to set up a series of meetings on various topics, including restrictions on missile weapons in Europe,” Stoltenberg said.
On the positive side, it can be noted that the parties agreed to restore the work of their missions in Moscow and Brussels, which were interrupted last year due to the fault of NATO. A trifle, of course, but against the backdrop of a total divergence of views on major issues, it looks nice.
The final stage of the negotiations will be held on Thursday in Vienna in the format of the OSCE.
bbabo.Net