MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. The United States and NATO must give a concrete and substantive response to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a telephone conversation with his French counterpart. Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday.
Putin "once again stressed the necessity for the United States and NATO to take Russia’s demands on ensuring security guarantees seriously and to respond to them in a concrete and substantive manner," the Kremlin said after their phone call.
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.