U.S. 'Firmly' Rejects Russia's Calls On Kiev Not To Join NATO - Now What?

NATO Must Reject Military Buildup of Its Eastern Members, Russia Says After Security Talks

Sputnik

Senior Russian diplomats led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met with their US counterparts in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday to discuss a pair of Russian security proposals laid out in mid-December outlining ways to considerably ease tensions between Moscow and the Western bloc.

NATO must reject the principle of the military development of its eastern flank, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at a press conference after Monday's discussions in Geneva with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and other US officials.

"We presented to the Americans in the most detailed way possible the logic and substance of our proposals, explained why obtaining legal guarantees from NATO not to expand is an absolute imperative, explained why we absolutely must receive legal guarantees on the non-deployment of the strike systems on Russia's borders, and why we are raising the question about NATO abandoning, by and large, the [military] material development of the territory of states which joined the alliance after 1997," Ryabkov said.

The diplomat warned that any attempts by the US and NATO to blackmail and intimidate Russia on Ukraine are "unacceptable" from Moscow's perspective, and will not yield any results.

He stressed that "playing with fire" was not in Washington's interest, and that "radical changes" were necessary in the Russia-NATO relationship.

Ryabkov stressed that NATO's non-enlargement, a commitment not to place missiles near Russia's borders, and barring Kiev from joining the Western bloc were "imperatives" as far as Russia is concerned.

Ryabkov suggested that the possibility of additional talks in future will depend on the outcome of the Russia-NATO talks on Wednesday in Brussels and discussions at the Organization for Co-Operation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman called Monday's talks "frank and forthright."

"We came up with a number of ideas where our two countries could take action that would be in our security interest and improve strategic stability," Sherman said. "The United States offered to meet again soon to discuss these bilateral issues in more detail," she added.

Sherman pointed to Ukraine as a sticking point in the discussions, saying that the US 'firmly' rejects Moscow's calls on Kiev not to be allowed to join NATO. "We're firm...in pushing back on security proposals that are simply non-starters in the United States. We will not allow anyone to close NATO's open-door policy," she said.

The diplomat also warned Russia on the consequences of any 'attack' on Ukraine, saying there would be "significant costs and consequences, well beyond what they faced in 2014," if Moscow were to strike.