How Russia and NATO Approach Security Assurance Negotiations – RT in Russian
The expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance to the east is contrary to the general and collectively agreed principle of indivisible security in Europe, a statement by Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov. At the same time, the NATO leadership claims that the expansion of the bloc “is very important for stability, peace, freedom and democracy in Europe.” Next week there will be a series of talks on issues between Moscow, Washington, the representative of the Alliance and the OSCE. In the opinion, the collective West is determined to preserve the dialogue, but one should not expect a change in its strategy towards the Russian Federation.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov called the North Atlantic Alliance a vestige of the Cold War. He expresses this point of view in the comments to Newsweek magazine, answering the question whether Moscow has fears that the unrest in Kazakhstan will distract from the security situation amid NATO’s expansion into Ukraine.
“NATO’s eastward expansion runs counter to the general and collectively agreed principle of indivisible security in Europe. The transatlantic bloc itself is a vestige of the Cold War, ”the diplomat said.
Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, on the other hand, claims that the expansion of the bloc “is important for stability, peace, freedom and democracy in Europe.” He stated this during a press conference following the summit of foreign affairs of the countries – NATO.
Speaking about the relationship of the alliance with Russia, Stoltenberg said about the need to conduct a good faith dialogue and make efforts to ensure a “political path forward.” At the same time, he made it clear that there is no talk of the North Atlantic Alliance refusing to speak.
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“All of our allies make it clear that we will not compromise in violation of basic principles, which include the right of each country to choose its own path and what security mechanisms it wants to be,” Stoltenberg agrees.
According to him, these principles are enshrined in documents “which Russia also signed,” starting with the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.
“In addition, it is, of course, spelled out in the NATO founding treaty. Therefore, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization cannot compromise on the issue of each country independently choosing its own path, ”added Stoltenberg.
Negotiations between NATO and Russia are to take place on January 12, after the Russian-American consultations on security guarantees are held in Geneva. In anticipation of this meeting, NBC News published a report about the current US administration official and two former US national security officials saying the White House is ready to engage in dialogue “on reducing the deployment of US and Russian troops and military exercises in Eastern Europe.” Moscow will take the negotiations seriously.
Iskander. Kaliningrad region ”, – stated in the article.
However, the State Department denied this information.
It is not true that the administration is mulling options for the withdrawal of American troops to Eastern Europe in preparation for talks with Russia next week, as we told NBC when they shared the story.
– Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) January 7, 2022
“It is not true that in preparation for talks with Russia next week, the administration is developing options for the withdrawal of US troops deployed in Eastern Europe.” We told NBC about it when they covered their story, ”agency spokesman Ned Price tweeted.
Artificial choice
The expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance to the east has become the reason for the rapid growth of mutual mistrust in Europe. This opinion was written by Vladimir Putin in his June article “Being open despite the past”. He agrees that the alliance’s policies have presented many countries with an artificial choice: either with the collective West or with Russia.
“In fact, it was an ultimatum. The consequences of such an aggressive policy can be seen in the example of the Ukrainian tragedy of 2014 … The entire European security system has greatly degraded. Tensions are growing, with real risks of a new arms race. We are missing the huge opportunities that cooperation gives us, ”the President noted.
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Vladimir Putin
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AP
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© Alexey Nikolsky
Recall that at the time of the collapse of the USSR, NATO included 16 states. In the early 1990s, the alliance began to show great interest in the former Warsaw Pact countries and the former Soviet republics. At the 1997 summit in Madrid, NATO or Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, and then other states of the former socialist bloc. In total, since the end of 1999, the alliance has replenished with 14 members, including the Baltic states and the Balkan states.
In 2008, at a summit in Bucharest, NATO leaders said that “over time” Ukraine and Georgia managed to join the alliance.
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The events of 2014 in Ukraine became the reason for the further increase in activity and NATO in the US of the Russian borders. Western politicians started talking about “Russian aggression” in the region, which became a pretext for deploying additional NATO infrastructure in Europe, as well as intensifying military exercises near Russian borders.
As in December 2021, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the United States and NATO are purposefully increasing the scale and intensity of military training activities near Russia. “Increasingly, strategic aviation is involved in them, carrying out simulated launches of nuclear missiles at our facilities. The number of their flights by Russian criminals is more than doubled, ”the minister said, speaking at an expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry collegium with the participation of Vladimir Putin.
As the institute explained in an interview with RT, the expert of the International Humanitarian and Political Research Vladimir Bruter, the main goal of the policy of the collective West is “to humiliate and contain Russia.”
“NATO and the US are not going to fight with Russia and are cautiously looking at the situation when Ukraine is seriously trying to provoke the Russian Federation. They have a different task – to force Moscow to simply show vulnerability, that it is not able to compete, ”the expert said.
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NATO Summit in Bucharest, 2008
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© Vadim Girda
At the same time, as analysts emphasize, both in Washington and in the bloc as a whole are aware that the increase in administrative activity within the Russian borders looks like a direct threat to the Russian Federation. This activity, coupled with talks about possible inclusion in NATO, is being used as a trump card in the dialogue with Moscow by HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev.
“Recently, talk of expanded NATO expansion has been used to heighten the sense of threat both to the Russian elite and to society as a whole. This is an absolutely deliberate tactic. – Expert expert.
“It will take a lot of effort”
In December 2021, Moscow handed over to Washington drafts of a bilateral security guarantee treaty and an agreement on security measures for Russia and the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.
The draft of the first document, among other things, assumes that both parties will undertake obligations to use other states in the framework of ensuring the implementation of other parties to the treaty. into the alliance of former Soviet republics.
“The United States of America is not part of the structure of a state that was previously a member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to use their infrastructure to conduct any military activity.” the draft agreement.
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NATO exercise “Saber Strike 2018” in Lithuania
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© Mindaugas Kulbis
However, according to Dmitry Evstafiev, Washington is unlikely to adjust NATO’s military activity within the Russian borders. “For the American side, this is a long-term strategy. And to correct it, even if such a desire would arise, it would take a lot of time, ”the expert explained.
Vladimir Bruter also believes that although Washington is ready to bargain with Moscow, even perhaps for a number of concessions, there will be no talk of a fundamental change in policy.
“For example, the United States may well reduce the contingent stationed in Eastern Europe, reduce the frequency of scientific maneuvers in the region under certain conditions, but this will not change the general course. The US and NATO are ready for a dialogue with it, ”the expert says.
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At the same time, in his opinion, NATO is unlikely to rush to admit Ukraine and Georgia into its ranks, since this, to a certain extent, contradicts the interests of the Alliance.
“The inclusion of these countries in NATO means new commitments for the collective West. At the same time, both the alliance and the United States may well now use the territory of these countries for their own purposes. Therefore, for Russia, the fundamental point is not so much the actual admission of Ukraine to the bloc as its neutral status, ”says Bruter.
In his opinion, in the upcoming negotiations NATO and Washington will demand from Moscow asymmetrical steps, for example, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the western border of the country.
“At the same time, Russia acts only on its own territory, and the United States – on someone else’s. I do not exclude that they will demand that Russia limit its own defense potential. Therefore, the parties will need serious efforts to at least move on to discussing constructive conditions, ”the analyst suggested.