Status: 02/02/2022 2:54 p.m
So far, the answers from NATO and the USA to the Russian demands in the Ukraine conflict have been kept under wraps. A newspaper has now put documents online. Accordingly, the United States is ready to make concessions – under conditions.
The Spanish newspaper El País has published documents it says are classified NATO and US responses to Russia’s proposals for new security arrangements. According to the documents posted online, the Americans and the military alliance make it clear that most of the Russian proposals are unacceptable to them.
Open to concrete negotiations
At the same time, NATO and the USA are open to concrete negotiations and new agreements. According to its response to Russia, the United States is prepared to rule out the permanent stationing of combat troops and ground-based missile systems in Ukraine, if Moscow also makes the corresponding commitments.
An end to the current Russian troop deployment on the borders with Ukraine is mentioned by NATO and the USA as a prerequisite for successful negotiations. According to the NATO response, this is central to significant progress.
There is no official confirmation of the authenticity of the letter – but no denial either. NATO in Brussels said it never commented on alleged leaks. The authenticity was confirmed to the dpa news agency from alliance circles.
With more than 100,000 troops deployed near Ukraine, fears are growing in the West that the Kremlin is planning an invasion of the former Soviet republic. However, it is also considered possible that fears are only being stirred up in order to persuade the NATO states to make concessions when demands for new security guarantees are made.
Moscow wants to persuade NATO to rule out further eastward enlargement and, in particular, the admission of Ukraine. It also calls for a withdrawal of NATO troops from eastern alliance states.
Scholz calls on Moscow to de-escalate
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has meanwhile called on the leadership in Moscow to take clear steps towards de-escalation. The situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border worries the governments in Berlin and Madrid and is “very, very serious,” said Scholz in the Spanish capital at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
It is also clear: “Military aggression against Ukraine would have serious political and economic consequences. It is therefore our task to do everything we can to avoid such a development, which in the end everyone has to suffer from.” , warned Scholz.