Following intense talks with the United States in Geneva, Russia is set to lay out more demands for security assurances in Europe to NATO’s 30 allies on Wednesday. The talks indicated that the opposing sides have significant differences to connect.
The NATO-Russia Council, which meets at NATO headquarters in Brussels, is part of a larger effort to calm the worst East-West tensions since the Cold War, which were sparked by a dispute over Ukraine. The United States claims that Russia is planning to attack Ukraine.
Despite that fact that Russia is massing soldiers along the Ukrainian border, Moscow disputes the claims of the United States.
NATO ambassadors said that the Western alliance is willing to talk to Moscow on enhancing transparency around military drills and avoiding unintentional clashes that could lead to conflict, as well as arms control in Europe.
However, several of Russia’s demands, included in two draft treaties released in December, are deemed unacceptable by NATO allies, including proposals to pare back the alliance’s activity to 1990s levels and a promise not to admit new members.
“Let’s be clear: Russian activities are to blame for the current problem. We are committed to de-escalating the situation through diplomacy ” Julianne Smith, the US envoy to NATO, commented on Tuesday evening.
The Kremlin sees NATO’s deterrents and military modernization as a danger as the alliance expands eastward into its old Soviet area of influence.
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