Putin antyder russisk reaktion, hvis Vesten afviser NATO's sikkerhedsaftale

RT
søn, 26 dec 2021 18:46 UTC

© Raigo Pajula/AFP

NATO-tropper under en øvelse i Tapa, Estland, maj 2021

Moskva vil have forskellige scenarier med hensyn til, hvordan man skal reagere, hvis Vesten afviser sit krav om at stoppe militær ekspansion i Østeuropa.

Det siger den russiske præsident, Vladimir Putin, i et interview, som blev sendt søndag af nationalt tv.

I denne måned opfordrede Moskva USA og NATO til at underskrive traktater, der forbyder yderligere udvidelse af militærblokken. Russiske embedsmænd har gentagne gange sagt, at de ser USA-dominerede baser og anden infrastruktur inden for den tidligere Warszawapagt som en trussel.

Kommentar: Delvist oversat af Sott.net fra Putin hints at Russian response if West rejects NATO security deal

Putin was asked what his government will do if the West rejects its demands.

"[Our response] can be very different," the president said, hinting that Moscow may have multiple options in mind. "It will depend on the proposals from our military experts."

Putin reiterated that Russia wants to avoid further escalation and seeks a diplomatic settlement with the US-led bloc. During his end-of-the-year press conference, on Thursday, the president stressed that Russia may be forced to retaliate to "unacceptable" NATO expansion.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the bloc maintains an 'open door policy', meaning Ukraine and other nations are free to join the bloc if they meet certain criteria.

Despite the tensions surrounding Ukraine, Russia and NATO have expressed willingness to continue dialogue. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the sides are working to set up a NATO-Russia Council meeting. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Sunday that Stoltenberg wants to convene the council on January 12.

In recent weeks, Western officials and media have accused Russia of gearing up for a potential invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has rejected these claims.

Kommentar: Putin further comments:

At his annual year-end press conference on Thursday, the Russian president slammed Washington and its NATO allies for talking about "Russian aggression" while surrounding Moscow with offensive missile systems and carrying out several waves of expansion toward Russia's borders. "You cheated us shamelessly," Putin said.

The US and its allies have pinned Russia into a position from which it has nowhere to fall back to, President Vladimir Putin has said.

"I have spoken about the 'red lines' which we believe should not be crossed. I want everyone to understand - here in our country and abroad, so that our partners understand: the issue isn't about the line which we don't want someone to cross. The issue is that we have nowhere to fall back to. They [NATO] have squeezed us against such a line, pardon the expression, that we can't move around," Putin said, speaking in an interview with the Rossiya 1 television channel on Sunday.

"I have already said - they'll put missile systems in Ukraine, 4-5 minutes flight time to Moscow. Where can we move? They have simply driven us to such a state that we have to tell them: stop. That's the whole point," the Russian leader added.

Putin expressed hope that the Russian people, the Ukrainian people, the people of Europe and the United States understood the essence of the security proposals sent by Moscow to Washington and NATO, and publicised by the Foreign Ministry last week.

Putin admitted that the open publication of the proposals was unusual, and "not a very common way to conduct talks," but said that Moscow decided to act as it did due to its concerns that NATO could stall negotiations while pumping Ukraine full of modern weapons.

"They will chat endlessly, speak endlessly about the need to negotiate, and do nothing, except pumping up our neighbour with modern weapons systems, and increase the threat to Russia, with which we will then be forced to somehow deal with, somehow live," the president said.

Therefore, Putin noted, "our proposal is open and understandable."

"It puts all the participants of the [negotiation] process within a certain framework. But for us there is only one goal - to reach agreements which would ensure - both for today and over the long term, the security of Russia and its citizens," he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov adds:

A recent launch of the Russian Zircon hypersonic missile may make Russia's diplomatic notes to the West "more convincing," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday."

Well, let's hope that notes become more convincing this way," Peskov told Rossiya 1 when asked about the launch.The Kremlin spokesman also said that it was President Putin who came up with the idea of security guarantees that were recently proposed to the West.

"This is...the initiative of a president, who is capable of a comprehensive analysis of the situation," Peskov said.A negotiation on security guarantees that Russia offered to the United States will show whether the latter is interested in resolving mutual concerns effectively or protracting the process indefinitely, he added.

"These talks will immediately demonstrate if the Americans are ready to give a substantive answer or prefer to stall the process and try initiating years-long perennial negotiations," the spokesman said, adding "the Russian side absolutely will not put up" with the second option.

He said that Russia needs a "quick and specific" decision on security guarantees that would meet the country's interests.

"I would maintain cautious optimism right now and put hope on the consultations that we are waiting for," Peskov said.

Another escalation of the civil war in Ukraine's eastern region of Donbass would be unacceptable for Russia as it will be taking place near the Russian border, Peskov explained.

"We are told to take de-escalation measures, but no one tells the same to Ukraine. No one calls out to Ukraine to say that another escalation of the civil war would be unacceptable and that it would be absolutely unacceptable for us because it will be right next to our borders. And after all, Russian people live there whose fate our country cannot ignore," the Kremlin spokesman said.

He slammed the Western countries for being biased in their stances on the eastern Ukraine conflict.