Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the United States and NATO have largely ignored the Kremlin’s security demands related to Ukraine.
Putin has said very little publicly about the Ukraine crisis for weeks. The ongoing Ukraine crisis was sparked by Russia amassing 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine, stoking fears that a military invasion is impending.
Putin met with his Hungarian counterpart Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday. After the five-hour meeting, Putin said in a press conference that it was clear the fundamental Russian concerns have been ignored by the West and that there has not been adequate consideration of Russia’s three key requirements.
The three key demands pertain to NATO expansion, rolling back weapons systems located near Russian borders, and returning the state of NATO’s military infrastructure in Europe to that it was in 1997, which is when the Russia-Nato act was signed. The demands include promising that NATO will never expand any further east, especially into Ukraine.
But the U.S. and NATO have said these are non-starters in negotiations, as they violate NATO’s founding policies.
The U.S. and Russia have been in a state of constant disagreement over Ukraine with little sign of a potential diplomatic path. But according to alleged leaked documents published by Spanish newspaper El Pais, the U.S. could potentially come to an agreement with Russia in relation to the Ukraine crisis.
In the potential agreement, the U.S. would ease tensions over missile deployments in Europe as long as Russia steps back from a military invasion into Ukraine.
Two sets of leaked documents were published on El Pais, listing different security issues that the U.S. and NATO are each willing to discuss with Russia in response to Russia’s proposals for a new security arrangement in Europe.
It was reported that Russia asked the U.S. and NATO to unify their responses into a singular response, and for the military alliance to agree to discuss “indivisibility of security.”
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