By Janet Ekstract
İSTANBUL- On Wednesday, France’s Emannuel Macron hosted eight hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and high-level officials from France and Germany in Paris. Though the talks made some headway, officials say there is still room for more discussion as Russia now mulls over the U.S. proposal it received from the Biden administration on Wednesday, addressing Russia’s demands.
Despite the U.S. presenting what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said is a detailed and thorough written response on the NATO position and security demands requested by Russia, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the press in Moscow: “There is no positive reaction on the main issue in this document.” Lavrov told journalists gathered in Moscow that the written response doesn’t allay Russia’s concerns over any possible eastward expansion of NATO. Lavrov reiterated that Russia wants a guarantee that no further NATO expansion will occur to the East and that strike weapons will not pose a threat to the territory of the Russian Federation.
To further defend Russia’s position, Lavrov emphasized that the U.S. and NATO previously agreed within the scope of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) not to expand at the expense of Russia’s safety. Lavrov commented: “We present non-verbal promises, written documents signed by the leaders of all the OSCE countries, including the President of the United States (Istanbul Declaration of 1999, Astana Declaration of 2010), our Western partners have to get out from a more serious situation.” The Russian foreign minister added: “This principle is clearly stated. It has two main interrelated approaches. First, the right of every state to freely choose military alliances is recognized. Second: the obligation of each state not to strengthen its security at the expense of the security of others.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a press conference that written responses the U.S. provided set “out a serious diplomatic path forward, should Russia choose it.” Blinken reiterated that he and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg closely coordinated their responses with Ukraine as well as with each other. Blinken added that the responses made it clear that NATO’s commitment is to an open-door policy for nations that want to join. He explained that the U.S. proposal offered a path toward what he termed “reciprocal transparency” between Russia and the West with regard to “force posture in Ukraine” and military exercises conducted in the region and the placement of missile systems in Europe.
In the meantime, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained that it will take time for Russia to fully review the U.S. proposal and that it would not rush to judgment. But while Russian officials indicated there is still room for dialogue with the U.S. – they warned that Russia would resort to “retaliatory measures” if the U.S. and its allies rejected its demands. The Biden administration is especially concerned that Russia may use any excuse of instability in Ukraine to invade Ukraine.
Another major concern is that Russia may cut off gas to Europe since it is the main supplier to that region. The U.S. State Department warned Russia that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany will not move forward if Russia invades Ukraine. Germany’s ambassador to Washington, Emily Haber referred to previous comments from Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock that quoted them saying, “nothing will be off the table.” With regards to the issue of a gas shortage, the emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is expected to inform the U.S. president that Qatar will provide short-term emergency liquid gas to Europe to help with any shortages if Russia cuts off gas supplies to Germany.
Wednesday’s talks in France did see progress since the talks produced an agreement for all parties to meet again in two weeks to discuss continuing tensions in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, Lavrov said the responses by the U.S. and NATO could lead to serious discussions but only on secondary issues. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the press conference in Moscow that: “The President already read the written responses. Peskov added: “All the papers are with the President. It will take some time to analyze then, we will not rush to any conclusions.”
