MOSCOW, RUSSIA(Washington Insider Magazine) – As the impasse between Russia and the West regarding Ukraine shows no signs of resolving, Russian Leader Vladimir Putin stated Tuesday that the US and its allies have neglected Russia’s major security demands.
The Russian president’s first public comments on the issue, which has challenged European safety, came as Moscow analyzed the United States and NATO’s responses to its key demands as the world awaited Putin’s next move on Ukraine.
Putin said it was completely obvious the West had ignored Russia’s demands that NATO not expand to Ukraine and former soviet countries, hold back from installing offensive weapons near Russian borders, and roll back deployments to Eastern Europe during a shared press meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban following their session in the Kremlin.
The requests, made by the Kremlin in December, were deemed non-starters by Washington and NATO, but they responded in writing to Moscow last week. Russia has yet to provide a formal response.
Russia has stockpiled more than 100,000 soldiers on Ukraine’s borders, according to the US and Western allies, raising concerns of an invasion. Moscow has rejected any plans for an attack, and the United States and its allies have vowed fast and severe financial repercussions if Moscow does invade.
Putin, on the other hand, claims that Washington isn’t looking out for Ukraine’s best interests and is instead following its main goal of limiting Russia’s development by using Ukraine as a “tool.”
According to NBC NEWS, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow is open to more negotiations with the West and expressed hope for a solution.
Putin’s remarks come after a phone meeting between top US and Russian diplomats on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke over the phone on the US response to Russia’s demands, according to the State Department. According to the department’s spokesman, Ned Price, Blinken emphasized Washington’s willingness to have “a substantive exchange” with Russia on common security concerns.
The debate, which came after Monday’s tense UN meeting, was part of a session of high-level negotiation between Russia and the West in an ongoing effort to prevent a Russian invasion of its neighbor.
The unusually tense meeting saw Russia blame the West for “whipping up tensions” and assisting in the election of “pure Nazis” in Ukraine, a reference to the country’s overthrow of its pro-Russia president in 2014 and the election of a more Western-oriented replacement.
