Russia Demands that NATO Commit not to Accept Ukraine into its Membership

Moscow has unveiled its draft agreements with NATO and the United States that exclude further expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance. Russia has published its draft agreements with the United States and NATO on security guarantees. These proposals limiting the role of Washington and the North Atlantic Alliance in the countries of the former USSR and Eastern Europe were published on Friday, December 17, on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The first document includes a provision that eliminates further expansion of NATO and Ukraine’s accession to its membership. In addition, Moscow offers the Alliance not to deploy additional troops and weapons outside the countries where they were in May 1997, that is, before the accession of Eastern European countries to NATO. At the same time, the possibility of exceptions is provided with the consent of Russia and NATO members. Russia called on NATO to abandon any military action in Eastern Europe “The participants, who are member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, refuse to conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine, as well as other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia,” the document says. Moscow also demanded not to deploy medium- and shorter-range missiles at positions from which they can hit the territory of the other side, not to conduct exercises, as well as other mass actions in the agreed border zone and regularly exchange information about military exercises. At the same time, the Russian Federation offers to confirm that Moscow and NATO do not consider each other adversaries and undertake to resolve conflicts peacefully and refrain from the use of force. Moscow’s proposals for the USA In the second document, Moscow, among other things, called on Washington not to deploy weapons and military personnel where it would be perceived by the other side as a threat to national security, to refrain from missioning heavy bombers outside its skies and from the presence of warships outside national waters from where targets on the territory of the other side could be hit. In addition, the Russian Federation proposed not to deploy medium- and shorter-range missiles in places from which they can hit targets on the territory of the other side, not to deploy nuclear weapons outside the United States, dismantle already deployed weapons and eliminate the relevant infrastructure. Russia has handed over to the United States a list of requirements for security guarantees Earlier it was reported that the Russian Federation handed over to the United States a list of requirements for security guarantees. During talks in Moscow with US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow insists on receiving written guarantees from NATO against further expansion to the East. In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on NATO and the United States to immediately negotiate security guarantees for Russia and demanded legal security guarantees for his country. He stressed that further expansion of NATO to the East, as well as the deployment of weapons systems in Ukraine and other neighboring states of the Russian Federation should be excluded. The Kremlin has previously demanded security guarantees from NATO, insisting, in particular, on the inadmissibility of the admission of Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance. Now there is no question of admitting these two countries to the Western alliance, but Ukraine cooperates very closely with the West, especially with the United States. Recently, relations between Russia and the West have noticeably worsened due to the conflict over Ukraine. Against the background of the massive transfer of Russian troops to the border with Ukraine, the West fears that Russia will start a war against this country. DW