Russian President Vladimir Poutine on Tuesday promised a “military and technical” response if his Western rivals do not end their policies deemed threatening, against a backdrop of growing tensions around Ukraine. “In case of maintaining the very clearly aggressive line of our Western colleagues, we will take adequate military and technical measures of retaliation”, he declared during an intervention in front of the executives of the Russian army and the Department of Defense.
For the head of the Kremlin, the United States and NATO are strengthening their presence at the Russian borders by arming Ukraine, supporting it politically, carrying out maneuvers and deploying forces in the Black Sea. “We are on our doorstep, we cannot back down,” Vladimir Putin said.
NATO extension or not extension?
On the contrary, the West accuse Moscow of aggressive inclinations, stressing that the Russian army has massed tens of thousands of soldiers on the border with Ukraine, a country from which Russia has already annexed part of the territory.
The Russian leader once again called for Washington and NATO to give Russia guarantees by signing treaties prohibiting any future enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance. He had already presented this claim to US President Joe Biden in a video interview in early December.
Two treaties for de-escalation
Vladimir Poutine has assured that he does not want an “armed conflict, a bloodshed” and prefers a “politico-diplomatic solution”. But he also ruled that even if the Americans gave in to his demands, mistrust would remain in place: “We cannot believe in any legal guarantee, because the United States is leaving international agreements which no longer interest them. “
Russia presented two treaties last week, one intended for the United States and the other for NATO, summarizing its demands for a de-escalation of tensions around Ukraine. These texts were deemed unacceptable by several members of the Alliance because they prohibit the enlargement of NATO and limit deployments and Western military cooperation in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, without imposing similar measures on Russia. Nonetheless, Washington has said it is open to discussions, but has yet to detail its response.
That economic sanctions in case of invasion of Ukraine
At the same time, the United States and Europe have threatened Russia with unparalleled economic sanctions in the event of Ukraine’s military aggression. Americans and Europeans, however, have made it clear that they will not send troops to defend Kiev. These threats of sanctions were therefore greeted in Moscow with a shrug of the shoulders, especially since no Western retaliatory measure has ever led the Kremlin to change its political line.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took offense on Tuesday at Western reluctance to set a clear timetable for Kiev’s accession to NATO and the European Union. “We cannot accept the idea (…) of (membership in) the EU in 30 years and (in) NATO in about 50 years,” he said.
Broken promises
For Ukraine, entering into these alliances is essential to its survival in the face of Russian ambitions. In response to a pro-Western revolution, Moscow has already annexed Crimea in 2014, while being widely regarded, despite its denials, as the godfather of pro-Russian separatists at war with Kiev for almost eight years.
Finally, the Kremlin holds the West responsible for the breach of confidence between the two camps, NATO having been extended to countries of Eastern Europe and the former USSR from the 1990s, in violation, according to Moscow, of promises made after the fall of the Soviet Union.