Putin says West has not addressed key concerns in Ukraine standoff
President
Vladimir Putin said on Friday the United States and NATO had not addressed
Russia's main security demands in their standoff over Ukraine but that Moscow
was ready to keep talking.
Putin
offered his first reaction to the U.S. and NATO responses to Russia's demands
in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron after weeks of personal
public silence on the crisis, in which Russia has massed troops near Ukraine.
The
Kremlin quoted Putin as telling Macron he would study the responses provided by
Washington and NATO this week before deciding on further action.
A
French presidency official said Putin had underlined that he did not want the
situation to escalate, echoing conciliatory comments by Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said Moscow did not want war.
"Attention
was drawn to the fact that the U.S. and NATO replies did not take into account
Russia's principal concerns," the Kremlin said of Putin's conversation
with Macron.
It
listed those concerns as avoiding NATO expansion, not deploying offensive
weapons near Russia's borders and returning NATO "military capabilities
and infrastructure" to how they were before former Warsaw Pact states in
eastern Europe joined.
"The
key question was ignored - how the United States and its allies intend to
follow the principle of security integrity ... that no one should strengthen
their security at the expense of another country's security," it said.
The
United States and NATO have made clear some of Russia's demands are
non-starters but have also left the door open to dialogue.
NATO
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance was
watching closely as Russia, which already has tens of thousands of soldiers
near Ukraine's border, moves troops and arms into Belarus for drills.
He
said NATO was ready to increase its troop presence in eastern Europe and
cautioned that a Russian attack could take many forms including a cyber attack,
attempted coup or sabotage.
"From
the NATO side we are ready to engage in political dialogue. But we're also
ready to respond if Russia chooses an armed conflict confrontation,"
Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
ENERGY
SUPPLIES
Lavrov
said he expected to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken again in the
next couple of weeks. Their last meeting, in Geneva on Jan. 21, produced no
breakthrough.
"If
it depends on Russia, then there will be no war. We don't want wars. But we
also won't allow our interests to be rudely trampled, to be ignored,"
Lavrov told Russian radio stations.
He
said, without giving details, that the U.S. counter-proposals were better than
NATO's.
The
United States and the European Union have warned Russia that it will face
economic sanctions if it attacks Ukraine.
These
would build on sanctions imposed on Russia since it annexed Crimea and backed
separatists in east Ukraine in 2014, though there are divisions among Western
countries over how to respond as Europe is dependent on Russia for energy
supplies.
U.S.
President Joe Biden and Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the EU executive, the
European Commission, said they had agreed to cooperate on guaranteeing Europe's
energy security but gave no details.
Washington
has been in talks with energy-producing countries and companies around the
world over a potential diversion of supplies to Europe if Russia invades
Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official told reporters this week.
EU
officials have repeatedly called for unity in the bloc over Ukraine, with some
concerned that Germany - worried about energy supplies - has not taken a
tougher stance.
Addressing
the calls for unity, the French presidency official said Macron had been
speaking to Putin as part of coordinated efforts with its allies to defuse
tensions and demanded that Russia respect the sovereignty of its neighbours.
Russia
has dismissed calls to withdraw, saying it can deploy troops as it sees fit on
its own territory. It has cited the Western response as evidence that Russia is
the target, not the instigator, of aggression.
'GUN
ON THE TABLE'
Ukraine
has suggested a Russian attack is not imminent though an economically damaging
war is possible.
"We
don't need panic," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a news conference in
Kyiv, repeating calls by Ukrainian officials for $4 billion - $5 billion to
stabilise the economy.
The
head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency told Reuters that Russia was
prepared to attack Ukraine but added: "I believe that the decision to
attack has not yet been made".
The
U.S. ambassador to Moscow, John Sullivan, told reporters that the size of
Russia's build-up near Ukraine would allow an invasion with little warning, and
urged it to pull back its forces.
"It's
the equivalent of if you and I were having a discussion or a negotiation. If I
put a gun on the table and say that I come in peace, that's threatening,"
Sullivan said.
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