Russia has published a wish list of security conditions it wants to negotiate with the United States and NATO — including that the North Atlantic alliance give up all military activity in the former Soviet Union — as Washington and the Western security alliance outlined conditions for any discussions on security with the Kremlin.
Among the proposed conditions laid out on December 17 by the Russian Foreign Ministry, NATO would agree to give up all military activity in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, while the alliance would also sign on to resolving all disputes peacefully and refrain from the use of force.
The proposed “draft agreements” between Moscow and NATO members would also bar further NATO expansion, limit military exercises in a designated buffer area to no more than brigade level, and would bar the deployment of ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles “in areas from which they are capable of hitting targets on the territory of other participants.”
Commenting on Russia’s suggestion that Moscow was ready “at any moment” to start talks on its proposals, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on December 17 that the United States had seen the conditions but would hold “no talks on European security” without its allies.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, commenting on the proposals just before Russia made them public, said that “any dialogue with Moscow would also need to address NATO’s concerns about Russia’s actions, be based on core principles and documents of European security, and take place in consultation with NATO’s European partners, such as Ukraine.”
Stoltenberg added that NATO had “made clear that should Russia take concrete steps to reduce tensions, we are prepared to work on strengthening confidence-building measures.”
The back and forth came as U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence officials have said tens of thousands of Russian troops have been moved near Ukraine’s border in a possible prelude to an invasion, which Russia denies. EU leaders have warned Moscow of “massive consequences” in the event of military aggression against Ukraine, which saw its Crimean Peninsula seized by Russia following an invasion in 2014.
Russia, meanwhile, has demanded direct dialogue with the United States to resolve the standoff and a written guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO.
At a press briefing on December 17, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also raised the risk of an arms buildup in Europe, saying Russia might be forced to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe due to “indirect indications” that NATO was planning on deploying such missiles. NATO has said it has no such plans and would deter new Russian missiles with conventional weapons.
Ryabkov has described Washington and NATO’s response to Russia’s security proposals as discouraging and said during a wide-ranging interview with Interfax on December 17 that he did not consider them unacceptable to NATO’s 30 members.
Calling on Washington to take the proposals seriously, Ryabkov expressed hope that the United States would enter into negotiations, saying the issue “is critically important for maintaining peace and stability.”
Russia handed over the draft documents during a meeting with U.S. State Department officials on December 15.
During that meeting, U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried discussed U.S. concerns about Russia’s massive military buildup near the Ukrainian border.
In its draft proposals, Russia called for NATO to “accept obligations that preclude further NATO enlargement, including the accession of Ukraine, as well as other states.”
While Georgia was not specifically mentioned in the document, Ryabkov made clear on December 17 that Moscow had the South Caucasus country in mind.
“We directly demand the withdrawal of the known decision from NATO’s 2008 summit in Bucharest in which it was said that Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members,” Ryabkov said.
“This needs to be cancelled, reconsidered,” Ryabkov said of the extraordinary NATO session, in which the alliance committed to keeping its doors open to any European democracy that was able to meet the obligations of membership.
During the session, NATO made clear that it supported Ukraine’s and Georgia’s applications for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) and described the MAPs as the “next step for the two countries on their direct way to membership.”
While the 2008 summit called for MAPs to be extended in the following two years, neither Ukraine nor Georgia have received them.
The proposals published by Russia also suggest that the NATO-Russia Council be used to resolve disputes and a hotline be set up to deal with emergencies.
The NATO-Russia Council was set up in 2002 to facilitate cooperation between the alliance and Moscow, but its work was suspended in April 2014 following Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, including its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for separatists fighting against Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine. Despite the suspension, NATO has kept lines of communication open and seven council meetings have taken place since 2016.
