The United States said on Wednesday it had set out a diplomatic path to address sweeping Russian demands in eastern Europe, as Moscow held security talks with Western countries and intensified its military build-up near Ukraine with new drills.
In a written response to Russia’s demands delivered in person by its ambassador in Moscow, the U.S. repeated its commitment to upholding NATO’s “open-door” policy while offering a “principled and pragmatic evaluation” of the Kremlin’s concerns, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Russia has demanded NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar its neighbour Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining. Washington and its NATO allies reject that position but say they are ready to discuss other topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures.
“Putting things in writing is … a good way to make sure we’re as precise as possible, and the Russians understand our positions, our ideas, as clearly as possible. Right now, the document is with them and the ball is in their court,” Blinken told reporters.
Whether President Vladimir Putin is prepared to accept Washington and its allies’ agenda will determine the next phase of the crisis, in which Moscow has massed around 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine while denying it plans to invade.
NATO says it is putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, while the U.S., Britain and others are providing weapons to help Ukraine defend against Russia’s much larger army.
Asked how much time Russia would need to study NATO’s response, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Interfax news agency: “We will read it. Study it. The partners studied our project for almost a month and a half.”
Source: (Reuters)
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