EAn official Russian response to the United States and NATO responses to the “security guarantees” demanded by Moscow is pending. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Thursday that “all these papers are with the president” and would be analyzed in peace, after which “nobody would delay the reaction”. However, Peskov has already pointed out that one cannot say that Russia’s considerations and concerns have been taken into account.
The two catalogs of demands that Moscow, contrary to diplomatic practice, also published on the Internet in mid-December as “draft treaties” include, among other things, the exclusion of any NATO expansion, any military activity by the West in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and the de facto neutralization of many Countries of Eastern and Central Europe and Scandinavia. Putin’s negotiators had also declared the demands to be a “package” from which opponents could not simply select items “like on a menu”. According to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow does not want to publish the written responses from the United States and NATO on Wednesday evening, out of consideration for the wishes of the negotiating partners who adhere to diplomatic conventions. Lavrov first said that they wanted to make the “content of their reaction” known, but Peskov now said that “everyone knows everything”.
As expected, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced their willingness to engage in dialogue on Wednesday evening, particularly on arms control, and suggested steps such as reviving the NATO-Russia Council to discuss maneuvers and nuclear strategy. At the heart of the demands, however, which touches on the sovereignty of many countries and NATO’s ability to act, Putin is unwilling to give in. Its negotiators had also demanded detailed answers to every single point of the “draft treaties”. Now, however, Blinken has made it clear that the response to Moscow is not a formal negotiation document or a proposal, but rather a collection of ideas and personal concerns with regard to Russia’s deployment on the borders with Ukraine and in the annexed Crimea.
Designation as “Kiev regime”
Peskov declined to answer Thursday’s question as to whether there were any positives in the responses, but stressed that America and NATO had “absolutely unequivocally” dismissed Russia’s “concerns.” Lavrov also said that the reaction received was that a “serious conversation” could be counted on, but only on “secondary issues”; to the most important question, which is the exclusion of any NATO expansion and the deployment of missile systems, there is “nothing positive” to be found in the answer. Russia’s Foreign Ministry now wants to draw up proposals for Putin’s next steps, and Blinken is set to meet again soon with Lavrov, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant next week in Geneva; Peskow did not want to commit to that yet.
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Of course, it was already clear on Wednesday evening that Putin’s maximum demands had been rejected, as expected. In this case, it was not difficult for Moscow’s political personnel, who wait for signs of leadership when in doubt, to choose an indignant tone for initial assessments. Foreign policy expert Vladimir Jabarov from the Federation Council, the upper house, said the response from the Americans (he did not speak of NATO, which does not take Moscow seriously as a negotiating partner) “cannot satisfy us, they have thrown everything together, their fantasies, accusations. We will never accept that answer.” Vladimir Nikonov, a foreign policy expert from the Duma, the lower house, said one must “acknowledge the West’s response as negative”. The Russian responses would soon be seen, “starting with an upgrade of the DNR and LNR.” The acronyms stand for the Moscow-backed “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. The general secretary of the powerful party “United Russia”, Andrei Turchak, had previously announced their rearmament – according to the Kremlin for the first time, from the point of view of Ukraine and the West additional – and the Duma faction of the party announced that it would Apply to the state leadership for arms deliveries so that “the people are not left to the arbitrariness of the Kiev regime”.