Moscow is Forced to Respond to Denial of Security Demands

If the US does not agree to Russia’s key security demands, Moscow has no choice but to respond, including militarily. That is what Russia said on Thursday. Moscow, meanwhile, handed over its written response on security in Europe to US Ambassador John Sullivan.

On January 26, the US government had provided Moscow with a written response about Russia’s security concerns. However, Washington had not responded to Russia’s demand that NATO not expand further east. Instead, the US proposes talks on missile deployment in Europe and mutual restrictions on military manoeuvres. Washington also proposes that Moscow inspect certain military infrastructure of concern in Europe.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that “in the absence of a willingness on the US side to agree to clear legal guarantees for our security (…) Russia will be forced to respond, including with military and technical measures. Earth”.

Russia says it is pleased that the US is ready to work on “arms control and risk reduction measures”, but that can only happen if key Russian demands are also on the table. “The Russian proposals constitute a comprehensive package and should be studied in their entirety, without excluding any of its components,” it said.

In addition, Moscow emphasizes that it is not considering an invasion of Ukraine, although the country has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers on the border. “There is no invasion, and it is not planned,” the Kremlin said.

According to Moscow, the West accuses Russia of wanting to attack Ukraine in order to “pressurize and devalue Russian proposals on security guarantees”.