The 30 members of the NATO defense alliance have used their written response to Russia’s demands for new security agreements to offer Moscow concrete steps to improve relations. On Wednesday, the US government also submitted its own response to Russia. In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had made it clear “that there are core principles that we are committed to upholding and defending.” These included Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the right of states to choose their own alliances: “NATO’s door is open and will remain open.”
In Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg named three areas in which progress could be made. To improve the relationship, NATO and Russia should reopen their currently closed representations. Communication between the military is to be improved and a hotline between civilian authorities set up for emergencies. In the NATO-Russia Council you can learn about maneuvers and nuclear policy.
NATO is ready to listen to Russia’s concerns
Stoltenberg said NATO was ready to listen to Russia’s concerns and engage in genuine discussion on issues of European security architecture. However, they insist on the principle agreed in Helsinki in 1975 that each country can decide whether to join a military alliance. The Secretary General called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. As a final point, Stoltenberg offered talks on arms control, disarmament and transparency in military exercises. For the latter, the Vienna Document should be modernized. Everything must be done to avoid the risk of military incidents.
Russia submitted two draft treaties in December. Unlike Moscow’s demands, the answers from Brussels and Washington do not deal with the demands point by point. Accordingly, the USA should undertake to prevent the expansion of NATO to the east and to rule out the admission of other states that previously belonged to the Soviet Union. In addition to Georgia, this also applies to Ukraine, on whose borders Moscow has deployed more than 100,000 combat-ready soldiers. NATO should agree to initiate a withdrawal of forces from eastern allies such as Poland or Lithuania.
So far it is unclear how the deployment near Ukraine is related to Moscow’s proposals. In NATO, it is conceivable that the West should be forced to make concessions by demonstrating military strength. It could also be that Russia formulated maximum demands that are unacceptable to the US and NATO in order to justify an attack on Ukraine. Russia denies such plans. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Wednesday that Germany would deliver 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine