On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the US’s written answers to Moscow’s security proposals did not contain a “positive response” to the issue of NATO expansion.
“There is no positive reaction in this document on the main issue. The main issue is our clear-cut position on the inadmissibility of NATO’s further eastward expansion and the deployment of strike armaments that may threaten the territory of the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.
The US and NATO both submitted their proposals to Russia on Wednesday night. The full contents of the documents have not been made public, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO’s “open door” policy would not change.
Lavrov said that while the NATO concerns are not addressed, the US response makes it possible for the two powers to begin a “serious talk” on secondary issues, such as arms control and missile placement in Eastern Europe.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made similar comments and said that Russia “cannot say that our thoughts have been taken into account or that a willingness has been shown to take our concerns into account.” Peskov said there’s still room for dialogue with the US, but that the response left “little ground for optimism.”
Lavrov said Russian President Vladimir Putin will now decide on what the next steps are and how Russia will respond to the US. Blinken said Wednesday that he expects to meet Lavrov again “in the coming days” to continue talks on the security issues.
They’re already responding. Any talks on those “side issues” are not going to go anywhere any more than JCPOA talks have and the US will drag them out for years. Meanwhile, events on the ground will overtake any such negotiations.
Yes, it’s absurdly circular: they’re willing to discuss what they’ve just rejected.
I think we all know the playbook by now.
US and NATO will stall for time as long as possible while defacto bringing Ukraine into NATO with military and naval bases.
Then sometime over the next few years, there will be a new NATO nation overnight when Ukraine is suddenly accepted as full member and immediately has all NATO bases, gear and troops in place to immediately attempt an assault on Crimea.
Russia, of course, knows all this and must now take active, possibly military, measures to ensure Ukraine never enters NATO.
That can be achieved by deconstructing Ukraine, NATO or both.
If you know of a place where we can sign on in support of deconstructing NATO, please let us know. In addition, I’d be willing to offer a small donation to support such an effort… on a serious note, what kind of military measures, do you think would be involved?… best-donna
I have no idea what the plan might be, but Russia knows diplomacy and treaties are worthless when dealing with US.
So, if the US only understands force then Russia must use force.
The problem is Putin is a real stickler for following Russia’s internal laws and international law.
So, how to legally show Americans the full might of the Russian military without becoming the aggressor with respect to international law?
Probably the easiest and fastest way would be to bomb the US troops occupying and illegally stealing oil in Syria and take as many as possible as POWs.
Russia is there 100% legally helping to defend their ally and has every right to bomb and capture every single American soldier in the country.
If I were Putin’s advisor, that would be my recommendation. Solve alot of problems in the Middle East, end the Syrian war forever and force US back to the negotiating table regarding NATO expansion with Russia clearly negotiating from the dominant position.
Well said, well said! My biggest concern is for warfare to be non-nuclear. If two super powers, with nuclear weapons go toe to toe, there are huge dangers there…
NATO is a hornet in the ointment, and Russia’s concerns seem entirely legitimate. Still, talks are important, though it is hard to see what they might yield to allay Russia’s concerns.
“NATO EXPANSION” is rather chilling in and of itself and does not seem to lend any room for comfort.
Odds are there will be a quiet return to the pre-Russians-are-coming-NOW status quo, which will be regarded as a victory against Putin.
The NATO door will remain technically open but Ukraine will never meet the bar, opposed by countries with no real interest in Ukraine entry like Germany and more subtly, France.
Ukraine will continued to be supplied with small arms and aid, but nothing more strategically advanced.
US missiles will remain in Romania, and those planned for Poland possibly not delivered but left on the table to troll Russia. Any new incoming US troops will be sent to other Eastern European countries than Ukraine.
The main threat was always unilateral action by Ukraine Neocon Nazis.
With the Zelensky government backing off immanent Russian invasion claims, there’s little chance of the Ukraine military following – or rather, being pushed into – an attack by Neocon Nazis and mercenaries.
Neocon Nazi plan B, a Zelensky coup and replacement by a more warlike leader, (directly, or to remove a ‘Russian’ coup leader in a ‘heroic’ counter-coup by Neocon Nazi hardliners) is also undermined by Zelensky’s abandonment of the Russian invasion narrative.
A more warlike leader, even if successfully installed, has no traction or legitimacy to lead the nation into war.
In fact, he did *not* say that. What he said was “As for the essence of the document, the responses offer grounds for serious talks only on matters of secondary importance.” He explicitly does *not* say that Russia *will* conduct talks on those matter in the absence of talks about Russian’s primary concerns. In essence, he has *rejected* talks on secondary issues.
Russia will now require a response from all of the OSCE nations with regard to the Istanbul and Astana declarations and why they are ignoring the parts about “indivisible security.”
Listen to Alexander Mercouris’ video on exactly that point from yesterday.