Russia considers that relations with the United States have reached a “dangerous and critical” point, for which a substantial dialogue and concrete steps are “urgently” needed by Washington and its allies on the security guarantees demanded by the Kremlin.
The Russian Foreign Ministry published this comment today in response to questions that were left unanswered last week by the head of the diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, at his traditional press conference at the beginning of the year, but it coincides with his arrival at Geneva to meet with his American counterpart, Antony Blinken.
“As for relations between Russia and the United States, which have reached a dangerous and critical point because of Washington, a substantial and serious dialogue and concrete steps by the Americans and their allies are urgently needed to provide guarantees of reliable security to Russia,” he said.
Moscow reiterated that “the aggressive activity of NATO on the ‘eastern flank’, the hostile actions against our country, including unscheduled exercises, the proximity and dangerous maneuvers of warships and warplanes, the military development of the Ukrainian territory, They are absolutely unacceptable. “
Russia has demanded security guarantees from the US and NATO to prevent the Atlantic Alliance from expanding further east and stationing offensive weapons near its borders, an issue that Russia unsuccessfully addressed last week in Geneva, Brussels, and Vienna. , and that today Lavrov will raise Blinken again.
All this amid the West’s fear of an upcoming attack or invasion by Russia against Ukraine, on whose border it has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers.
Russia considers the US its main interlocutor and demands a written response to its demands, something that Blinken will not do yet today. The Kremlin has said it can wait until next week.
Foreign Affairs maintains that the question of whether there is still any possibility that the two countries become true friends or reliable partners should be addressed to the United States.
“Russia used to make the appropriate efforts, but our steps were taken for granted and in response, we only received an arrogant disregard for Russian priorities, “ says Moscow.
“Now it is important to rebuild the atmosphere of trust, to return to at least a semblance of normalcy. This is in the common interest. In general, there are no insurmountable differences between Russia and the United States,” says Foreign Affairs.
Russia demands that Washington show “political will” for a frank conversation, but makes it clear that it will not “engage in a dialogue only on issues of interest to the United States when our legitimate concerns are defiantly ignored.”
“It is time to abandon the pretensions of world hegemony, which is unacceptable in the current geopolitical realities. Without this, it will not be possible to establish a sustainable interaction”, he adds.
“Either we agree on a more or less positive agenda that also takes into account Russian priorities, or the degree of confrontation, already excessive, increases even more,” he warns.
He stresses that, if US policy remains unchanged, “we will oppose it harshly within the framework of reciprocal containment of Washington’s hostile actions.