No Ukraine accord for NATO, Russia
BRUSSELS – The United States and NATO on Wednesday rejected key Russian security demands for easing tensions over Ukraine, but left open the possibility of future talks with Moscow to discuss other issues like arms control, missile deployments and ways to prevent military incidents.
The decisions came at a meeting of the Nato-russia Council, the first of its kind in over two years. That Russia’s delegation did not walk out of the talks and remained open to the prospect of future discussions after having its main positions rebuffed were seen as positive notes in a week of high-level meetings aimed at staving off a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the 30-country military alliance halt its expansion and withdraw troops or military equipment from countries neighboring Russia like Ukraine, but also NATO allies like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Speaking after the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed that some of Putin’s security demands “are simply non-starters.”
“We will not slam the door shut on NATO’S open-door policy,” she said after almost four hours of talks at the military organization’s headquarters in Brussels.
“We are not going to agree that NATO cannot expand any further.”
The meeting was called amid deep concerns in the West that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, with around 100,000 combat-ready troops, tanks and heavy military equipment massed now near Ukraine’s eastern border.
Russia denies that it has fresh plans to attack its neighbor and in turn accuses the West of threatening its security by positioning military personnel and equipment in Central and Eastern Europe.
NATO Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, who chaired the meeting Wednesday, said NATO nations and Russian envoys “expressed the need to resume dialogue and to explore a schedule of future meetings.”
Stoltenberg said NATO is keen to discuss ways to prevent dangerous military incidents or accidents and reduce space and cyber threats, as well as to talk about arms control and disarmament, including setting agreed limits on missile deployments.