WASHINGTON, February 20. /TASS/. Russia doesn’t want confrontation with the United States and is not seeking to enhance its security at its expense, Russian Ambassador to the United States said on Sunday.
"Russia and the United States are the most powerful nuclear powers. Our countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council and bear a special responsibility for international peace. We don’t need confrontation," he said.
"Who will argue with the fact that Russia and the United States have equal rights and obligations in the field of security?" he noted. "We cannot strengthen our security at the expense of US security and vice versa."
He noted that security problems don’t exist in a vacuum and cannot be addressed to outside the context of the fundamental principle of indivisible security. "It is impossible to invite Russia to cooperate on arms control and at the same time steadily increase NATO’s strike potential near our borders," he stressed. "Let me explain: you can’t strengthen your security at the expense of the security of other states. This principle was enshrined in a number of international documents signed by the United States, Russia and other countries."
Russia referred its proposals on security guarantees to the United States and NATO in December 2021. The proposed measures include guarantees that NATO will not advance eastward, including the accession of Ukraine and other countries into the alliance, as well as non-deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear ones. Russia also demands the NATO military infrastructure be retreated to the 1997 borders.
In late January, Washington and Brussels handed over written responses to Russia’s proposals showing that the West has made no concessions to Russia on matters of principle importance for it. On Thursday, the Russian side made public its reaction to the United States’ response and will soon release a similar document on NATO’s response.
The West and Kiev have recently been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.