Anti-Russian restrictive measures will be lifted if Moscow “ends this war and helps rebuild Ukraine, restores peace and recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country.”

This was stated in an interview with the TASS agency by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who accused Moscow of intending to "reincorporate Ukraine into Russia and recreate the Soviet Union."

According to the diplomat, Washington was ready to discuss some of the issues raised by Russia on security guarantees in Europe.

However, she declined to answer the question of whether the United States would recognize Russia's demands, including NATO's refusal to grant membership to Ukraine and further eastward expansion of the bloc.

“We were ready to talk about the vast majority of issues that Russia has put on the table, about everything ... conflict prevention in the course of military activities, the reduction of military exercises.

We even stated that we never had any intention of stationing offensive weapons in Ukraine,” Nuland said.

At the same time, she noted that the Russian side cannot make decisions for NATO.

“We were not going to tell another country how and with whom to enter into alliances,” Nuland said, calling NATO a defensive bloc and noting that the American side and its allies “had no intention of pursuing Russia.”

Nuland's statements about the possible removal of restrictions and the conditions for this were reacted in Moscow.

“It is impossible, impossible, it is harmful and dangerous to take the word of certain statements of people who have repeatedly shown themselves to be irresponsible and not keeping their obligations,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the air of the Zvezda TV channel.

Looking for safety

Recall that since the end of 2021, Russia has been trying to reach an understanding with the United States on security issues in Europe against the background of the strengthening presence of the North Atlantic Alliance in the region and the approach of its military infrastructure to the borders of the Russian Federation.

In particular, the topic of the need for Moscow to receive reliable, legally fixed security guarantees was raised by Vladimir Putin at negotiations with Joe Biden on December 7.

  • Negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden

  • RIA News

  • © Mikhail Metzel

The Russian leader then drew the attention of the US President to the fact that NATO was making attempts to "military development" of the Ukrainian territory, and noted that therefore Moscow insists on providing it with guarantees that exclude the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance to the east and the deployment of strike offensive weapons systems in the states adjacent to the Russian Federation. .

On December 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation published two draft documents on ensuring legal security guarantees from the US and NATO.

After that, the corresponding negotiations were held by assistants to the presidents of the two countries - Yuri Ushakov and Jake Sullivan.

Soon, Washington and Moscow agreed to continue the dialogue: on January 10, bilateral consultations were held at the level of representatives of foreign affairs agencies, and on January 21, Anthony Blinken and Sergey Lavrov held talks in Geneva.

However, after a number of meetings with US and NATO representatives in Moscow, it was noted that Russia's main concerns were in fact ignored.

After that, NATO and the US increased their military presence in Eastern Europe.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on February 17 that in the absence of the readiness of the United States and its allies to agree on firm, legally binding security guarantees, Russia would be forced to respond, including through military-technical measures.

On the morning of February 24, Vladimir Putin announced his decision to launch a special military operation in Ukraine.

The President added that the current security circumstances require the Russian side to take "decisive and immediate action."

He stressed that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories.

After that, the US, EU, UK, as well as a number of other states initiated a new wave of anti-Russian sanctions.

“Were not ready for dialogue”



Commenting on the latest statements by the US Deputy Secretary of State, experts interviewed by RT recall that the United States has been using Ukraine for many years as an instrument of pressure on Russia and that sanctions have only become an expected continuation of this policy.

“Now that Russia is rising, they need to do everything to weaken it again politically and economically.

Ukraine is just a mechanism, a toy, with the help of which this can be done.

Nobody in the West cares about the lives of people, since for them they have become a bargaining chip in this struggle, ”stated Andrey Koshkin, a military political scientist, head of the department of political science and sociology of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.

In turn, Vladimir Batyuk, chief researcher at the Institute for the USA and Canada, explained why Washington and NATO stubbornly refuse to take into account Russia's positions on the security architecture.

“This would mean undermining the entire foundation on which European security was built after the end of the Cold War and in which the NATO bloc played a central role,” Batyuk said.

Political scientist Malek Dudakov drew attention to the fact that Russia's attempt to reach a mutually beneficial agreement on security in Europe was openly torpedoed by Western politicians. 

“Of course, Washington wanted to maintain its position, none of the current politicians was ready to take responsibility for a broad compromise with Russia for the sake of ensuring security and stability in Europe.

For them, this would mean the end of their political career, so they were not ready for dialogue.

The current situation has become the result of such tactics, ”Dudakov argues.

He called Nuland's current statements about the terms of the lifting of sanctions "playing good cop."

“This is a kind of desperation gesture on the part of the State Department and the Biden administration - they hoped that with the help of this sanctions baton they would be able to change Russian policy and stop the special operation.

But this did not happen.

Now they have almost exhausted their sanctions possibilities and are trying to turn on the “good cop” regime, this is a typical American practice,” Dudakov said.

  • Special operation in Ukraine

  • RIA News

  • © Ilya Pitalev

At the same time, he predicts that the sanctions pressure against the Russian Federation will weaken after the end of the Russian special operation and without a corresponding signal from the United States.

“When the Russian special operation is over, some particularly harsh sanctions imposed on emotion, such as the closure of airspace, will be lifted in the coming months.

Another thing is that stopping the special operation now for the sake of phantom concessions on restrictions from the United States is an absolutely unconstructive position, Russia will not do this, ”the analyst noted.

Dudakov also believes that the negotiation process regarding the security architecture in Europe may resume after the end of the special operation in Ukraine.

“Obviously, NATO and the US will again not want to make big concessions to Russia.

But now we will proceed from a more confident position than at the negotiations in December and January, so Washington will have to reckon with this, ”the expert concluded.