Stoltenberg: NATO Won't Give Up Right To Station Troops In States Surrounding Russia

Stoltenberg: NATO Won't Give Up Open Door Policy, Right to Station Troops in States Ringing Russia

Sputnik

Russian and NATO officials held talks in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the security proposals put forward by the Russian Foreign Ministry in mid-December aimed at easing tensions between Moscow and the Western alliance. The discussions took place following talks in Geneva between Russian and US officials on Monday.

The Western bloc's member states 'will make every effort' to find a political way forward with Russia, but will not give up on its 'core principles', including its open door policy for membership, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said.

"Today Russia raised the proposal that they published in December aimed at addressing their security concerns; these include demands to stop admitting any new member to NATO and withdraw forces from eastern allies. Allies on their side reaffirmed NATO's open door policy and the right for each nation to choose its own security arrangements. Allies made clear that they will not renounce their ability to protect and defend each other, including with the presence of troops in the eastern part of the alliance," Stoltenberg said in a press conference Wednesday after the conclusion of a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council.

"There are significant differences between NATO allies and Russia on these issues, and the differences will not be easy to bridge. But it is a positive sign that all NATO allies and Russia sat down around the same table," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg indicated that the bloc called on Russia during the meeting to 'withdraw its forces' from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - presumably in a reference to Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and to Crimea - the region which broke off from Ukraine and rejoined Russia in 2014 following a Western-backed coup in Kiev.

NATO, he said, "expressed serious concern" about the alleged Russian military buildup "in and around Ukraine," and called on Russia to de-escalate the situation and to "respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours."

"They also called on Russia to refrain from aggressive force posturing and malign activities directed against allies and abide by all its international obligations and commitments," Stoltenberg said.

Last month, asked to comment on the Foreign Ministry's decision to publish Russia's security proposals openly, President Vladimir Putin indicated that Moscow did so openly amid fears that the Western bloc might try stalling tactics. "They will chat endlessly, speak endlessly about the need to negotiate, and do nothing, except pumping up our neighbour with modern weapons systems, and increase the threat to Russia, with which we will then be forced to somehow deal with, somehow live," Putin said.