MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin talked with restrained optimism about the possibility of resolving the issues of security guarantees for Russia if the US and NATO are willing to do so, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
"Still, he (the Russian president) talked with very restrained optimism and hope about the possibility to resolve the issue of security guarantees for Russia with the appropriate desire [on the part of the US and NATO] and, of course, via diplomatic talks," the Kremlin official said.
On February 1, the Russian leader commented in detail on security talks and US and NATO responses on the security guarantees for Russia at a press conference following his talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Commenting on the president's remarks, the spokesman noted three main messages conveyed by Putin. "A very important statement by the president on the issue concerning the security guarantees," Putin's press secretary emphasized. According to him, the first message was that at the time, the West lied when it promised that NATO wouldn't expand to the East and subsequently expanded. "When the president figuratively said that, essentially, we were simply swindled," the spokesman reiterated.
He also singled out Putin's remarks that Ukraine's national security strategy directly allows the use of force for the return of territories. "That is, by its doctrine, Ukraine considers it is possible to attack Russia in order to, for example, encroach upon the Russian territory of Crimea. And in this case, eventually, hypothetically, in the future, near or distant, we may encounter [a situation] when Ukraine as a NATO member may attack the Russian Federation," the Kremlin official explained, noting that this cannot be excluded given the number of nationalist elements in Ukraine. "Then we will encounter the threat of a war between Russia and the NATO bloc," he concluded.
The spokesman said that Putin's third important message was in his statements on NATO's open-door policy. "This provision is not enshrined anywhere, it doesn't exist as a doctrine. Article 10 of [NATO's] charter says that new members may be admitted but open doors are not mentioned anywhere. This is also important to reiterate to everyone," the Kremlin official concluded.