Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
The USA and NATO rejected Russia's request that NATO not expand to the east, demand de-escalation in the case of Ukraine, propose negotiations on the deployment of missiles and nuclear arms control and on the concept of "security indivisibility".
The classified US and NATO written responses to Russia's publicly released December 17, 2021, written security proposals concerning security in Europe reject Russia's proposal that NATO close the door to Ukraine's future accession to the Western alliance, and offer negotiations on disarmament and "confidence building".
According to the writing of the Spanish newspaper "El Pais", which published the contents of those secret documents, Washington is telling Russia that the success of the dialogue on strategic stability is conditioned by the de-escalation of the Russian military threat to Ukraine. "Given the significant, unprovoked, unwarranted and continuous build-up of the Russian military in and around Ukraine and Belarus, we call on Russia to immediately de-escalate the situation in a verifiable, timely and permanent manner," NATO said.
"The position of the US government is that progress can only be achieved in an atmosphere of de-escalation of Russia's threatening actions towards Ukraine," writes "El Pais", and in the interpretation of the Russian TASS, which also reported the content from the Spanish newspaper, it is said that this means the withdrawal of Russian force from the border with Ukraine.
The US and NATO are ignoring Moscow's demand that NATO infrastructure return to its 1997 borders, and after calling for a renunciation of any military activity in Eastern Europe (including Ukraine), Transcaucasia and Central Asia, Brussels is demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from territories of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, according to TASS, which after "El Pais" also published the content of secret documents of NATO and the USA. By the way, there are no significant differences in the interpretations.
The document from Washington states that "it is the inherent right of every state to be free to choose or change its security arrangements, including alliance agreements," and that the U.S. "continues to strongly support NATO's open door policy," and therefore does not rule out the future inclusion of Ukraine or Georgia in the Alliance. This should be dealt with by the NATO-Russia Council.
TASS interprets this to mean that Washington and NATO are therefore not ready to give guarantees that NATO will not expand to the east.
Washington, however, says it is ready to discuss the concept of "security indivisibility," which the OSCE adopted at a summit in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in 2010. Moscow included it in the first article of its draft agreement, using this adopted principle to argue that eventual entry of Ukraine into NATO affected the security of Russia. The US responds that the concept of indivisibility of security "cannot be viewed in isolation", so it expresses its readiness to deal with "appropriate interpretations", writes "El Pais".
Washington is ready to start bilateral talks with Russia on the control of short- and medium-range missiles and their launchers, and describes the deployment and production of Russian SSC-8 missiles and other systems as a "violation of the Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces". At the same time, the US confirms that it is committed to the START treaty on intercontinental ballistic missiles, which is in force until 2026, but proposes the inclusion of new launchers, non-strategic weapons and non-deployed nuclear warheads.
He also suggests that "talks on how to include all the nuclear weapons of the USA and Russia in the new START agreement should be started immediately." "Washington and its allies are concerned about Russia's efforts to diversify and increase its nuclear arsenal, develop new intercontinental missiles and deploy dual-use and non-strategic missiles near NATO's borders," El Pais writes.
The US proposes to Russia to establish a "transparent mechanism to check the system Aegis Ashore in Poland and Romania so that it could control that Tomahawk missiles are not deployed there. In return, Washington calls for an identical approach for two missile bases to launch missiles of its choice on Russian territory.
Washington agrees, in consultation with Kiev, to engage in a dialogue on the ban on the deployment of land-based offensive missiles and a permanent contingent in Ukraine, with similar guarantees from Moscow.
Given the discomfort of the European Union due to its exclusion from these negotiations, the US guarantees to discuss with its allies all issues that affect the security of Europe.
NATO and the US are ready to talk with Russia about military exercises in Europe, however, there is no question of banning maneuvers above the brigade level "in a zone of agreed width and configuration on each side" along the borders of the Russian Federation and its allies and the borders of NATO countries, which is contained in the Russian proposals.
Washington claims that the size of the American army in Europe is four times smaller than it was at the end of the Cold War, that the size of the forces of the Western alliance is proportional to the Russian one, and that there are no strike groups and nuclear weapons deployed in Eastern Europe that could disturb Moscow.
Washington warns that further strengthening of Russian positions or continued aggression against Ukraine will force the US and its allies to strengthen their defenses.
NATO has called on Russia to hold joint consultations on reducing risks in space and to refrain from testing anti-satellite weapons.
MM/El Pais/TASS
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