Putin announced negotiations with the USA in Geneva for January
Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed at his annual press conference on Thursday that he did not want to accept an eastward expansion of NATO and categorically called for “binding security guarantees” from the West. “Our Geneva-American partners have told us that they are ready to start this discussion and negotiations in early next year,” he continued. He did not want to rule out a military strike against Ukraine.
Putin rated the US’s willingness to negotiate on the security guarantees demanded by Moscow in connection with the Ukraine conflict as “positive”. “So far we’ve seen positive reactions,” he said.
“Another eastward expansion of NATO is unacceptable.” When asked whether he can guarantee that Russia does not invade Ukraine, Putin replied that his country would act as its security interests demand. At the same time, he again promoted his proposals for binding safety guarantees: “There must be no tricks here.”
Putin again accused the West of striving for the collapse of Russia in the 1990s and then of having expanded NATO to the East despite agreements to the contrary. The Russian concerns were repeatedly ignored.
The Kremlin boss also strongly criticized the Ukraine for failing to comply with the Minsk Agreement. Like his predecessor, Ukrainian President Volodmymyr Selenskyj came under the influence of “radical elements”. “In Ukraine, they say ‘Nazis’ to them,” he said. Russia is trying to establish normal relations with Ukraine, but that has not come about because willing Ukrainian politicians are being imposed by Kiev on this, Putin said. He was alluding to Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk, whose youngest daughter the Russian president had as a godfather at the time.
In relation to the internationally criticized poison attack on opposition politician Alexei Navalny demands evidence of a crime. The West has not yet presented any evidence of the “alleged poisoning” with the chemical warfare agent Novichok. “Nothing. Zero, ”said Putin. According to evidence from Germany, work in France and Sweden resulted in the poisoning.