Russia is “dissatisfied” with the West’s reaction to its key security proposals, which Moscow furnished amid mounting tensions over Ukraine, but is still hoping to resolve a growing standoff through diplomatic channels, it was announced on Monday.
President Vladimir Putin summoned Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the Kremlin on Monday to discuss their opinion on the offers received from the US and NATO on the subject of European security and the potential expansion of the military bloc into Ukraine. Putin began the meeting by saying that NATO enlargement is “endless and very dangerous,” and said “I’d like to hear your analysis and your proposals concerning the reaction to the responses we have received from Washington and Brussels.”
Lavrov explained that the American reply had come in two parts. The first dealt with Moscow’s demands that NATO halt its expansion, cease to deploy weapons that could threaten Russia, and restore the “military-technical” configuration that existed in Europe in 1997, before the military bloc added several of its current members, including many former Eastern Bloc states.
“On these questions, the answer is negative,” Lavrov stated. “This, of course, cannot satisfy us.”