Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for swift security guarantees from the US and NATO. “You have to give us guarantees immediately – now,” said President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at his annual press conference in Moscow. Russia wants to avoid further escalation in the conflict with Ukraine. This would require appropriate commitments from the western military alliance, such as refraining from further expansion to the east. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has repeatedly deceived Russia with its eastward expansion.
Negotiations on the required security guarantees should begin in Geneva at the beginning of next year. The Russian proposals on this had largely met with a positive response from the USA. “I hope that the situation will develop in this direction,” said Putin. Russia supports pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and is said to have gathered around 100,000 soldiers in the border region. Ukraine as well as the USA, NATO and the European Union (EU) fear a military escalation and have repeatedly warned Russia against an invasion. Russia, in turn, demands guarantees that NATO will not expand further east, that Ukraine will not be accepted as a member despite its wishes and that neither troops nor weapons will be stationed there.
Putin is holding his traditional annual press conference this Thursday. As always shortly before the turn of the year, the Kremlin chief takes several hours to comment on a wide variety of topics. More than 500 journalists from Germany and abroad were expected. At such appearances he likes to hand out against the West.
The Russian President also commented on the high gas prices in Europe, for which he made Germany jointly responsible. Germany used the lower prices from long-term supply contracts to sell the gas at a profit to neighboring countries. He suspects that part of the Russian gas delivered to Germany will ultimately be resold to Ukraine. Europe has brought on the gas problems itself and should now solve them itself.
Putin calls for evidence of the poisoning of opposition member Navalny
In the case of the opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned more than a year ago, Putin has asked for evidence of a crime. The West has not yet presented any evidence of the “alleged poisoning” with the chemical warfare agent Novichok. According to official information, several laboratories, including one from the Bundeswehr, had proven the poisoning.
Well-known Russian oppositionist Navalny, who barely survived a poison attack in August 2020, has been in a prison camp since the beginning of the year. Navalny’s poisoning and subsequent arrest had put additional strain on the already tense relationship between Russia and Europe. The West had sanctioned Russia for the crime. Navalny had personally blamed Putin for the attack on him. The Kremlin rejects this.
Putin is also expected to speak out on the mutual deportation of diplomats after the verdict in the so-called Tiergarten murder. Other topics on the list of questions to be answered are likely to be the ongoing dispute over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, high prices, high unemployment and low domestic incomes, as well as the tense corona situation in Russia. In the past, the president acted as a carer who promised solutions to problems in the regions. Putin has been in power either as president or prime minister for more than 20 years.