Russia (bbabo.net), - Russia's response to the US and NATO proposal on security guarantees is ready and formulated on ten pages. This was stated by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Despite the fact that the response of Washington and Brussels to Russia's key proposals is unsatisfactory, Lavrov nevertheless suggested building up contacts with the West on these issues.
Yesterday, the Russian President personally met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss Russia's response to the West on security guarantees. At the beginning of the meeting, Vladimir Putin asked the Foreign Minister to present his views on this topic. The head of state noted that it was about Russian concerns related to the endless and dangerous expansion of NATO to the East, now at the expense of the former republics of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine. “I know that such an analysis has been carried out, you have also worked with colleagues from other departments and ministries. And of course, I would like to listen to your analysis and your proposals regarding the reaction to the responses received from Washington and Brussels,” Putin said.
In turn, Lavrov said that the US response to Russian security proposals cannot satisfy the Russian Federation. "The US response consists of two parts. The first part responds to our three key problems that we identified: the non-expansion of NATO, the non-deployment of strike weapons that threaten us, and, in general, the return of the military-technical configuration in Europe to the positions of 1997, when it was the Russia-NATO Founding Act was signed, in which for the first time in this format the task was to ensure the indivisibility of security," he said. "The answer to these questions is negative, of course, it cannot satisfy us." At the same time, the Foreign Minister added that the second part of the answer is more constructive, it provides for quite specific measures.
Lavrov also said that the responses to his message on the subject of the indivisibility of security are also unsatisfactory, none of the Western colleagues responded to the minister's direct message. It was sent to all Western leaders, and it said that the commitment to the indivisibility of security is much more complex than they try to imagine, justifying Ukraine's entry into NATO. "We received two small pieces of paper - one from official Stoltenberg - NATO Secretary General, the second from official Borrell - head of diplomacy of the European Foreign Service, which says: Don't worry, we need to continue the dialogue, the main thing is to ensure de-escalation around Ukraine," Lavrov said.
At the same time, the head of the Foreign Ministry noted that the very initiative of Russia on European security "shaken" the West. Lavrov stressed that Moscow's proposals were the reason why the West would no longer be able to ignore the previous appeals of the Russian Federation on this topic. "We, developing a dialogue on some aspects that are of practical importance today, with our Western, primarily American, colleagues, will simultaneously seek answers from them to the legitimate questions that we have raised," he said.
US response to Russian security proposals cannot satisfy RF
In turn, the president asked Lavrov if there was any chance of reaching an agreement with the United States and NATO on topics that are of concern to Russia. "Or is it just an attempt to drag us into an endless negotiation process that has no logical conclusion?" Putin asked. The Foreign Minister noted that Russia and the president personally have repeatedly warned partners about the inadmissibility of endless conversations on issues that need to be resolved today. "But still, being the head of the Foreign Ministry, I must say that there is always a chance," Lavrov stressed. He recalled the recent contacts of the President of the Russian Federation with the leaders of the United States and France, the upcoming meeting with the German Chancellor. "Our consistent explanatory work and commitment to clarifying our innocence while being ready to listen to serious counter arguments - it seems to me that our possibilities are far from exhausted. Of course, they (negotiations. - Approx.), Of course, should not continue indefinitely, but at this stage I would propose them continue and build up," Lavrov stressed.
Putin also asked if there was already a draft response to the US and NATO letters. "It is formulated on 10 pages," Lavrov reported to the president.
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