Russia: NATO Must Renounce Military Buildup in the East

On Monday, Russian diplomats, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, held talks in Geneva with U.S. counterparts to discuss a security proposal to lower tensions between Moscow and the Western bloc. According to the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, NATO must quit the principle of military development of its eastern flank.

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"We presented to the Americans in the most detailed way possible the logic and substance of our proposals, explained why obtaining legal guarantees from NATO not to expand is an absolute imperative, explained why we absolutely must receive legal guarantees on the non-deployment of the strike systems on Russia's borders, and why we are raising the question about NATO abandoning, by and large, the [military] material development of the territory of states which joined the alliance after 1997," stated Ryabkov.

From Moscow's perspective, Deputy FM said that any attempt by the U.S. and NATO to blackmail and intimidate Russia about Ukraine is "unacceptable." He highlighted the need for "radical changes" for the Russia-NATO relationship. Ryabkov also stressed the imperatives of the request on NATO's non-enlargement, a commitment not to place missiles near Russia's borders, and barring Kiev from joining the Western bloc.

The diplomat described the eight hours of talks as "difficult, long, very professional, deep, specific, without any attempts to embellish anything, to get around any sensitive issues." "We got the impression that the American side took the Russian proposals very seriously and studied them in-depth," he noted.

Ryabkov was clear in saying that Russia has no plans to "invade" Ukraine after U.S. negotiators complained of the buildup of Russian troops near its neighbor. "We explained to our colleagues that we have no plans, no intentions to 'attack' Ukraine... There is no reason to fear any escalation in this regard," he decreed.

The Deputy FM confirmed that the New START treaty matter was on the table, also touching strategic stability in general. He suggested that additional talks, in the future, would depend on the outcome of the Russia-NATO talks on Wednesday in Brussels and discussions at the Organization for Co-Operation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday.