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Russia forced to take radical steps by actions on Ukraine, other states — senior diplomat

There are countries neighboring Russia where offensive systems’ flight time is 4-5 minutes, Andrei Rudenko pointed out

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russia’s initiatives on security guarantees stem not from fear but from the actions of Ukraine and other neighboring countries, which force Russia to take radical steps, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said on Monday.

"The matter is not about fear, the matter is that our neighbors, not only Ukraine, have reached a kind of a boiling point, which really forces us to take certain radical steps, at least, we say that we are prepared to think in a different way," he said, commenting on the factors behind Russia’s security initiatives and possible consequences of their rejection.

He noted he would not focus on Ukraine in this context because it is "just another candidate for giving grounds to such threats" to Russia. "We have other countries neighboring Russia where offensive systems’ flight time is 4-5 minutes," he said. "There are no such systems in Ukraine so far. Our reaction is a preventive measure meant to warn that under certain scenarios we will take certain steps which we are not talking about now and only in general terms, calling these things military steps and military-technical solutions."

According to Rudenko, it would be right to speak not about fears but about Russia’s calls on its partners to stop. "By the way, it applies to Ukraine too, if it plans any steps that would be a threat to our security," he stressed.

On December 17, the Russian foreign ministry released two Russian draft agreements on security guarantees from the United States and NATO. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on NATO to begin substantive talks on reliable long-term security guarantees to Russia. He stressed that Russia needs legally binding guarantees because the West has failed to fulfill its verbal commitments.

According to Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov Ushakov told US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that Moscow was ready to begin talks on draft documents on security guarantees. Russia will be represented at these talks by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

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