Putin explained his “ultimatum” to the United States and NATO on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he fears the deployment of America’s newest weapons in Ukraine.
This is how he explained the project proposed by Russia from the United States, which was called an ultimatum in the West.
“Putting hypersonic weapons in Ukraine … This does not mean that it will be in the near future, but under the influence of Russian extremists from the neighboring state,” Putin said, speaking at a board of defense ministries.
Earlier, Moscow published projects with the United States and NATO countries, in which it proposed to legally enshrine NATO’s refusal to further expand to the east and to accept Ukraine into its ranks.
Moscow is also demanding the withdrawal of troops and weapons from “old” NATO members from the territory of new members. Countries such as Poland or the Baltic states that joined the bloc after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In the West, the proposal was called an ultimatum, because it was put forward against the background of the announcement of the deployment of a large group of Russian troops near the borders of Ukraine. Russia is suspected of preparing for the invasion of Ukraine.
“Is this an ultimatum or not? Of course not!” – Putin said. Immediately after this statement, he accused the United States of unauthorized UN Security Council bombing of Yugoslavia, invasion of Iraq and Syria.
“What they are doing now on the territory of Ukraine or trying to do and plan to do, it is not thousands of kilometers from our national border, it is on the doorstep of our home,” he said.
Putin reiterated Russia’s proposals set out in documents addressed to Brussels and Washington: “We hope for constructive and meaningful talks with a visible, and in a timely manner, the end result.”
The draft security treaties with the United States and NATO, unveiled to Russia on December 15, have made a name for themselves in the world.
The United States and NATO have stated that it is unacceptable to resolve this issue without the participation of all Allies and Partner countries that are part of Ukraine.
“All countries have the right to decide their future and foreign policy and are free from external development,” said White House spokesman Jen Psaki.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that “only Ukraine and NATO members have the right to decide the vector of further development of their relations, in particular regarding Ukraine’s membership in the alliance.”
“Some voltage”
The situation worsened in early November, when the international press began to write about the concentration of Russian troops. Politico published pictures of the accumulation of equipment in the Smolensk region, and in other publications on the concentration of articles with reports of troops.
In the West, these actions of the Russian Federation prepare for Russia’s war with Ukraine. The international community has already warned that Russia values paying high for possible aggression.
Ukrainian officials speculated that a full-scale invasion by Russia was possible in late January.
Putin did not lead to the accumulation of troops on the border with Ukraine at the meetings of the boards of the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, he spoke about this earlier at a similar meeting in the foreign ministries.
Speaking at the Foreign Ministry on November 18, Putin asked to keep “some tension” near Russia’s borders “as much as possible, so that they would not think of arranging for us on our western borders, which we do not need a conflict.”
Putin returned to the subject on December 1, when ambassadors presented him with credentials in the Kremlin, pledging to establish faithful concrete agreements that preclude any further NATO advance to the east and the deployment of weapons that threaten us.