Ukraine: Putin asked Biden for guarantees on NATO's non-enlargement

Europe 1 with AFP 10:16 pm, December 07, 2021

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday denounced to his American counterpart Joe Biden the growing military potential of NATO on Russia's borders linked to its support for Ukraine and asked for "guarantees" on the non-enlargement of the country. alliance towards the East.

"NATO is making dangerous attempts to use Ukrainian territory and develop its military potential at our borders, which is why Russia has a serious interest in secure legal guarantees excluding NATO expansion in the East" , wrote the Kremlin in a statement, after a "frank and professional" meeting between the Russian and American presidents.

Putin denounces "the destructive line of Kiev"

Responding to threats of American sanctions in the event of a Russian military operation against Ukraine, "Vladimir Poutine replied that responsibility should not be placed on Russia's shoulders" given the behavior of the Atlantic Alliance. He also denounced "the destructive line of Kiev" which, according to him, seeks to "dismantle" the Minsk accords of 2015, a peace process supposed to end the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Russia. Ukraine and which has been at a standstill for years. "The leaders have agreed to ask their representatives to start substantive consultations on these sensitive issues," said the Russian presidency.

On the enlargement of NATO, US President Joe Biden made no "promises or concessions", assured his national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday.

Joe Biden believes that any country must be able to "freely choose" with whom to associate, again according to his adviser.

Make a clean sweep of all retaliatory measures

Vladimir Putin also proposed Tuesday to Joe Biden to lift all retaliatory measures targeting the diplomatic missions of their two countries taken in recent months in the midst of tensions between the United States and Russia. According to the Kremlin, relations between Moscow and Washington "are not in a satisfactory state". "The Russian side has proposed to wipe out all the accumulated restrictions on the functioning of diplomatic missions, which could help normalize other aspects of bilateral" Russian-American relations, according to the Russian statement.

As for other issues on the agenda, according to the Kremlin, the two sides have stressed the importance of working together against cybercrime, as the West accuses Russia of piloting computer attacks against its rivals.

And the leaders said they "hoped" for a constructive resumption of negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal.