MOSCOW : The Russian president on Tuesday reiterated his demand for guarantees from the U.S. and its allies that NATO will not expand eastwards, blaming the West for “tensions that are building up in Europe.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at a meeting with Russia’s top military brass came just days after Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliance’s military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.
The demands — contained in a proposed Russia-U.S. security treaty and a security agreement between Moscow and NATO — were drafted amid soaring tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has stoked fears of a possible invasion. Russia has denied it has plans to attack its neighbor but pressed for legal guarantees that would rule out NATO expansion and weapons deployment there.
According to readouts released by the Kremlin, Putin informed Macron about Moscow’s “diplomatic efforts on the subject,” and gave Scholz “detailed comments” on the drafts Russia-U.S. security treaty and a security agreement between Russia and NATO submitted last week.
In the conversation with Scholz, “hope was expressed that serious negotiations would be organized on all the issues raised by” Moscow, the readout said.
