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world news Diahuebs 2 December 2021

Putin demands NATO guarantees not to expand eastward

(AP) — President Vladimir Pu- without exclusion.”
tin said Wednesday that Moscow
would seek Western guarantees Putin’s statement came a day after
precluding any further NATO he sternly warned NATO against
expansion and deployment of its deploying its troops and weapons to
weapons near his country’s bor- Ukraine, saying it represented a red
ders, a stern demand that comes line for Russia and would trigger a
amid fears of a Russian invasion strong response.
of Ukraine.
Tensions have been soaring in recent
Ukrainian and Western officials have weeks about a Russian troop buildup
worried about a Russian troop build- near Ukraine, which worried Ukrai-
up near Ukraine, saying it could sig- nian and Western officials, who saw it
nal Moscow’s intention of an attack. as a possible sign of Moscow’s inten-
Russian diplomats countered those tion to invade its former Soviet neigh-
claims by expressing concern about bor. NATO foreign ministers warned
Ukraine’s own military buildup near Russia on Tuesday that any attempt to
the area of the separatist conflict in further destabilize Ukraine would be
the eastern part of the country. a costly mistake.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blink- The Kremlin insists it has no such
en, noting that Putin could quickly intention and has accused Ukraine
order an invasion of Ukraine, warned and its Western backers of making the
that Washington stands ready to in- claims to cover up their own allegedly
flict heavy sanctions on Russia if he aggressive designs.
does.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Speaking at a Kremlin ceremony Lavrov said the concentration of
where he received credentials from Ukrainian troops looks “alarming,” order should he so decide,” Blinken
foreign ambassadors, Putin empha- adding that he was going to raise the told reporters. “We must prepare for Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean
sized that Russia will seek “reliable issue during a ministerial meeting all contingencies.” Peninsula in 2014 after the coun-
and long-term security guarantees.” in Stockholm of the Organization try’s Kremlin-friendly president was
for Security and Cooperation in Eu- The U.S. has “made it clear to the driven from power by mass protests.
“In a dialogue with the United States rope on Thursday. He again assailed Kremlin that we will respond reso- Moscow also threw its weight behind
and its allies, we will insist on work- Ukraine for failing to meet its obliga- lutely, including with a range of high- a separatist insurgency in Ukraine’s
ing out specific agreements that tions under a 2015 peace deal for the impact economic measures that we’ve eastern industrial heartland, known
would exclude any further NATO region that was brokered by France refrained from using in the past,” he as the Donbas. More than 14,000
moves eastward and the deployment and Germany and signed in Minsk, said. people have died in the fighting.
of weapons systems that threaten us Belarus.
in close vicinity to Russian territory,” Blinken gave no details on what kind Ukraine and the West accused Russia
Putin said. “Kyiv is becoming increasingly inso- of sanctions were under consider- of sending its troops and weapons to
lent in its aggressiveness towards the ation if Russia did invade Ukraine. back the rebels. Moscow denied that,
He charged that “the threats are Minsk agreements, the Russian Fed- charging that Russians who joined
mounting on our western border,” eration, and in its attempts to provoke In April, the European Parliament the separatists were volunteers.
with NATO placing its military in- the West to support its military ambi- approved a nonbinding resolution
frastructure closer to Russia and of- tions,” Lavrov said in remarks in the to cut off Russia from the so-called In Wednesday’s address to parlia-
fered the West to engage in substan- upper house of Russia’s parliament SWIFT system of international pay- ment, Ukrainian President Volody-
tive talks on the issue, adding that before heading to a meeting with ments if its troops entered Ukraine. myr Zelenskyy called for negotiations
Moscow would need not just verbal Blinken on the sidelines of the OSCE Such a move would go far toward with Russia to end the conflict in the
assurances, but “legal guarantees.” meeting. blocking Russian businesses from the east.
global financial system, even though
“We aren’t demanding any special Speaking Wednesday in Riga, Latvia, Moscow has developed its own par- “We must tell the truth — we wouldn’t
conditions for ourselves and realize Blinken said that “we don’t know allel system in preparation for such a be able to stop the war without direct
that any agreements must take inter- whether President Putin has made move. talks with Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
ests of Russia and all Euro-Atlantic the decision to invade.” “We aren’t afraid of a direct dialogue.”
countries into account,” Putin said. Western allies reportedly considered
“A calm and stable situation must be “We do know that his is putting in such a step during earlier escalations The Kremlin responded by reaffirm-
ensured for all and is needed for all place the capacity to do so on short of tensions over Russia’s actions re- ing its long-held stance that Russia
garding Ukraine. In 2019, then-Rus- isn’t a party to the conflict, describing
sian Prime Minister Dmitry Medve- the fighting in the east as a civil war.
dev warned that cutting Russia off
SWIFT would effectively amount to “The war in Donbas is Ukraine’s in-
a “declaration of war.” ternal business,” Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We
Russian Foreign Ministry spokes- know about the attempts to cast Rus-
woman Maria Zakharova said sia as a party to the conflict, but it’s
Ukraine has amassed about 125,000 not so. It’s only possible to end the
troops — about half of the size of its war in Donbas through talks between
military — near the conflict zone. She Ukrainians.”
also pointed at an increasing number
of violations of a cease-fire in the east. Peskov said the Ukrainian troop con-
centration in Donbas could herald an
Amid the tensions, Moscow on attempt by Kyiv to reclaim control of
Wednesday launched drills in south- the rebel-held territory.
western Russia involving over 10,000
troops. A smaller exercise also began “It makes us worry that inclinations
in Russia’s westernmost region of to solve the Donbas problem by force
Kaliningrad on the Baltic, involving could prevail,” he said. “It’s a very
1,000 personnel from armored units. dangerous adventurism.”