Thursday, December 23, 2021
“What is not to be understood there?”
Putin forbids further NATO expansion to the east
After NATO had been fearing a Russian attack on Ukraine for weeks, the Kremlin chief declared his muscles to be legitimate self-defense. Putin also takes it for granted that Moscow will determine who may join the Western defense alliance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused NATO of massive expansion to the east without taking his country’s security interests into account. There have already been “five waves of enlargement”, although it had been assured that the Western military alliance would not endanger Russian security, Putin said at his annual press conference in Moscow. He particularly criticized the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO.
“Another NATO expansion to the east is unacceptable. What is wrong with that?” Asked the Kremlin chief. “We want to consolidate our security.” When asked if he could guarantee that Russia would not invade Ukraine, Putin replied that his country would act as its security interests demanded. At the same time, he again campaigned for his proposals for binding security guarantees. “There can’t be any tricks here.” Putin called it “positive” that the US was ready to negotiate Moscow’s demands.
Russia presented a draft agreement to NATO, the US and their allies last week. In it, Moscow calls for an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, which it sees itself threatened by. The background to this is new tensions in the Ukraine conflict. Reports of alleged Russian preparations for an invasion of Ukraine have been causing international concern for weeks. Russia has denied such allegations and stated that it feels threatened by the NATO presence near its border.
“Zero evidence presented of Navalny’s poisoning”
More than a year after the internationally criticized poisoning of his opponent Alexei Navalny, Putin demanded evidence of a crime. The West has not yet presented any evidence of the “alleged poisoning” with the chemical warfare agent Novichok. “Nothing. Zero,” Putin continued. Several laboratories, including one from the Bundeswehr, had proven the poisoning.
The Kremlin chief also defended the controversial crackdown on dissenters and “foreign agents”. For many, invincible Russia is too big. “You can only decompose it from the inside out.” That must be prevented.
Many non-governmental organizations and the media are classified as “foreign agents” in Russia, which they criticize as stigmatization. Putin stressed that Russia wants clarity as to who is receiving money from abroad and who is working in the interests of another country. The spokeswoman for the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Navalny, Kira Jarmysch, described Putin on Twitter as a “coward” and, in view of the attacks on opposition members, as a “murderer”.
Well-known Russian oppositionist Navalny, who barely survived a poison attack in August 2020, has been in a prison camp since the beginning of the year. Navalny’s poisoning and subsequent arrest had put additional strain on the already tense relationship between Russia and Europe. The West had sanctioned Russia for the crime. Navalny had personally blamed Putin for the attack on him. The Kremlin rejects this.