As part of an expanded meeting at the Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, Putin said that the attitude of the US and its military bloc towards Russia is driven by “an illiterate, incorrect analysis” of the status quo.
According to him, the West believes it can take an “aggressive line” towards Moscow because of its perceptions of having won the Cold War. He added that Russia has “every right” to take steps to defend itself, and pointed to a number of new arms systems being trialed to modernize its arsenals.
In the address, Putin stressed that Russia needs “long-term, legally binding guarantees” from Washington prohibiting NATO’s potential encroachment on his country’s borders.
Last week, Moscow prepared two documents, one for the military bloc, and one for US officials, asking for a wide range of assurances it said were aimed at strengthening the security of all parties involved. The proposals focus on the movement of military personnel and hardware, and include a requirement that Ukraine’s long-held aspirations will not be realized.
The proposals came after talks between the Russian leader and his US counterpart Joe Biden earlier this month, via video link. Putin said his country was “seriously interested” in getting “reliable and firm legal guarantees” that would rule out NATO pushing further into Eastern Europe, as well as the deployment of “offensive strike weapons systems” nearby.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sounded the alarm earlier in December, expressing concern over a significant number of the bloc’s weapons, including American and British hardware, being moved closer to Russia. The top diplomat warned that this could lead to an all-out provocation.
However, Putin went on to say that even if the US were to offer such assurances, ruling out further NATO expansion, it would be hard to trust that American officials would stick by them, given what he described as a track-record of pulling out of international treaties once they become “uninterested” in honoring them.
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