Russia: Moscow denies handing it over in response to the United States over security guarantees | international security

Posted on Feb 1, 2022 at 14:56 in
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On Tuesday, February 1, the Russian Foreign Ministry denied the latest information revealed by the US State Department, saying that Moscow had not yet sent Washington a final response to the security guarantees document presented by the White House on January 26.

The Russian news agency reported this on the same Tuesday RIA NovostiQuoting statements by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko. “This is not true,” the latter said, commenting on what was published by the US State Department, which stated that Russia had already sent a response abroad to Washington’s proposals. Moreover, the RIA diplomatic sources explained that the document submitted by Moscow, in fact, contains a series of questions from the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, which were also sent to other members of NATO. In detail, he questioned how the Allies conceived the “indivisibility” principle of security. A Kremlin spokesman confirmed what the sources had revealed, Dmitriy PeskovWhich made it clear that the union is still studying and detailing the main answer regarding security guarantees. American broadcaster CNN He explained that on January 31, US State Department officials confirmed that they had “received written follow-up from Russia” of a document sent in response to Russian security inquiries about NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe. The first newspaper that published this news was Washington Post. It is not clear whether the Russian document was delivered before or after the UN Security Council, which was done the day before.

Meanwhile, phone talks between Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken are expected on February 1. The duo will focus on the Ukrainian issue. in version Radio Sputnik, which is associated with the RIA, the Russian Foreign Ministry made clear what it expects from the conversation. For its part, Moscow will put on the table the response it received, on January 26, from the United States and NATO regarding the security guarantees that Russia is asking for. These documents were delivered to coalition partners and Washington on December 15, 2021, and were posted on the Russian Ministerial website on December 17. The Foreign Ministry stated that after the phone call, Lavrov is expected to comment on the latest developments in the media. The last time Lavrov and Blinken held face-to-face talks was on January 21 in Geneva. On that occasion, the parties failed to reach an agreement that would allow the normalization of the situation in Ukraine. This summit was held before the United States and NATO made counter-proposals to Russian security guarantees.

Disagreements between Russia and the United States over the situation in Ukraine became critical after the Kremlin began deploying around 100,000 troops along its neighbor’s eastern border between November and December 2021, surrounding Ukraine with troops from the north. east and south. On the one hand, Washington continues to assert that Russia has a concrete intention to invade its neighbor, asserting that it will do so in February. As a result, Washington promised to send 8,500 soldiers to Eastern Europe as well Other extra classes, but not on Ukrainian territory. At the same time, it continues to be supplied with Javelin anti-tank missiles and economic financing. NATO announced a reinforcement of the eastern flank, deploying more troops to Latvia and Romania, to name a few. On the other hand, Kiev urges us to remain calm and reiterates that Moscow, for the time being, has not gathered enough forces for an all-out invasion. Finally, Russia also indicates that it does not want to spark a conflict, although it does require consideration of its security guarantees. Regarding the deployment of troops, the Kremlin repeats that the army is on Russian soil, and therefore it is a matter of internal affairs.

Despite these developments, many analysts believe that Russia will not attack, at least not in the short term. In detail, Ukrainian officials believe that the Kremlin can use more covert strategies to destabilize Ukraine and put a pro-Russian leader at the head of the country. The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, investigated this issue in an interview, which he mentioned The Wall Street Journal. According to the expert, a military invasion would be very costly for Russia, given the size of the Ukrainian army, combined with the willingness of the population to fight. These factors add to the growing pressure from the West, which threatens to impose new sanctions, and to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. Indeed, according to Danilov, Moscow is likely, at least in the short term, to adopt a combination of technologies such as increased cyber-attacks, provocations, disinformation and economic pressure. The goal, in fact, is to destabilize the country from within and escalate psychological pressures in Kiev. For example, it is important to mention the cyber attack that hit the Ukrainian government websites on January 14, or the strengthening of the Belarus-Ukrainian border with the large-scale Allied Resolve exercises. Among other techniques, the Kremlin could increase internal unrest in Ukraine, instigating numerous protests, which would destabilize the country. Or carry out real coups, British intelligence noted, and replace the pro-Western president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with a pro-Kremlin official.

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Anna Pevereri, Russian and English translator

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