Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the West on Thursday to move quickly to meet Russia's demand for security guarantees, precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine and the deployment of the military alliance's weapons there.
Russian leader welcomed the U.S. talks to start next month in Geneva but sternly warned that Moscow expects the discussion to produce quick results, as he spoke at a marathon annual news conference.
Putin said that we had to let them know that any further NATO expansion eastward is unacceptable.
Last week, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet republics and roll back the alliance's military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. There is a principle of the NATO alliance that membership is open to any qualifying country.
Who is putting missiles near the U.S. borders? Putin said something. It is not the U.S. who came to our home with their missiles. They are already on the threshold of our home. Is it too much demand not to place any offensive systems near our home? Moscow presented its demand amid rising tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has sparked fears of a possible invasion. In a conference call earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden warned Putin that Russia will face serious consequences if it attacks Ukraine.
Putin previously denied he had plans to launch an attack, but he has described NATO expansion and weapons deployment in Ukraine as a red line. Asked if he could guarantee that Russia would not invade Ukraine, Putin snapped in response: It's you who must give us guarantees and not have idle talk about it for decades. How the Americans would respond if we placed our missiles on U.S. borders with Canada or Mexico? He exclaimed.
The U.S. and its allies have said they won't give Russia the kind of guarantee on Ukraine that Putin wants. American officials are negotiating with European allies in advance of the Geneva talks.
Also in April 2020, Trump-Putin's joint statement on Elbe anniversary alarms Russia critics in the U.S.
The Russian leader said during his news conference that the West had cheated, blatantly swindled Moscow by offering verbal pledges in the 1990s not to expand NATO's presence east, and then to include former Soviet bloc countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the ex-Soviet republics in the Baltics.
Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999, followed by Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2004. In the following years, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia also joined, bringing NATO membership to 30 nations.
After lengthy talks, President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin are far apart over Ukraine.
It is not us who threatens anyone, Putin said. Is it us who came to the U.S. or British borders? They have come to us, and they now say that Ukraine will be in NATO. He accused the West of trying to make Ukraine anti-Russia, constantly beefed up with modern weapons and brainwashing the population. Putin said Russia can't keep living in anticipation of the looming security threats posed by the deployment of Western weapons in Ukraine.
Should Russia be constantly looking back at what is going on and what new weapon systems are put in place? He exclaimed. We need to think about our security. He argued that Western weapons could encourage hawkish forces in Ukraine to try to regain control over Russia backed separatist regions by force and even try to regain Crimea that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The Russian leader claimed Western expressions of concern about an alleged Russian invasion could be a precursor to a possible attempt by Ukraine to launch an offensive against the rebels in the east after two botched attempts in the past.
There is an impression that they are preparing a third military operation and warning us not to meddle, he said.
Ukrainian officials haven't said anything about their intention to launch an offensive against the separatists.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and shortly afterwards cast its support behind a separatist rebellion in the country's east. More than seven years ago, the fighting has killed over 14,000 people and destroyed Ukraine's industrial heartland, known as the Donbas.