Putin demands NATO guarantees not to expand eastward

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MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow would question Western guarantees precluding immoderate further NATO enlargement and deployment of its weapons adjacent his country's borders, a stern request that comes amid fears of a Russian penetration of Ukraine.

Ukrainian and Western officials person disquieted astir a Russian unit buildup adjacent Ukraine, saying it could awesome Moscow's volition of an attack. Russian diplomats countered those claims by expressing interest astir Ukraine’s ain subject buildup adjacent the country of the separatist struggle successful the eastbound portion of the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, noting that Putin could rapidly bid an penetration of Ukraine, warned that Washington stands acceptable to inflict dense sanctions connected Russia if helium does.

Speaking astatine a Kremlin ceremonial wherever helium received credentials from overseas ambassadors, Putin emphasized that Russia volition question “reliable and semipermanent information guarantees.”

“In a dialog with the United States and its allies, we volition importune connected moving retired circumstantial agreements that would exclude immoderate further NATO moves eastward and the deployment of weapons systems that endanger america successful adjacent vicinity to Russian territory,” Putin said.

He charged that “the threats are mounting connected our occidental border,” with NATO placing its subject infrastructure person to Russia and offered the West to prosecute successful substantive talks connected the issue, adding that Moscow would request not conscionable verbal assurances, but “legal guarantees.”

“We aren't demanding immoderate peculiar conditions for ourselves and recognize that immoderate agreements indispensable instrumentality interests of Russia and each Euro-Atlantic countries into account,” Putin said. “A calm and unchangeable concern indispensable beryllium ensured for each and is needed for each without exclusion.”

Putin's connection came a time aft helium sternly warned NATO against deploying its troops and weapons to Ukraine, saying it represented a reddish enactment for Russia and would trigger a beardown response.

Tensions person been soaring successful caller weeks astir a Russian unit buildup adjacent Ukraine, which disquieted Ukrainian and Western officials, who saw it arsenic a imaginable motion of Moscow's volition to invade its erstwhile Soviet neighbor. NATO overseas ministers warned Russia connected Tuesday that immoderate effort to further destabilize Ukraine would beryllium a costly mistake.

The Kremlin insists it has nary specified volition and has accused Ukraine and its Western backers of making the claims to screen up their ain allegedly assertive designs.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the attraction of Ukrainian troops looks “alarming,” adding that helium was going to rise the contented during a ministerial gathering successful Stockholm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation successful Europe connected Thursday. He again assailed Ukraine for failing to conscionable its obligations nether a 2015 bid woody for the portion that was brokered by France and Germany and signed successful Minsk, Belarus.

“Kyiv is becoming progressively insolent successful its aggressiveness towards the Minsk agreements, the Russian Federation, and successful its attempts to provoke the West to enactment its subject ambitions," Lavrov said successful remarks successful the precocious location of Russia's parliament earlier heading to a gathering with Blinken connected the sidelines of the OSCE meeting.

Blinken said Wednesday successful Riga, Latvia, that the U.S. has “made it wide to the Kremlin that we volition respond resolutely, including with a scope of high-impact economical measures that we’ve refrained from utilizing successful the past.”

Blinken gave nary details connected what benignant of sanctions were nether information if Russia did invade Ukraine.

In April, the European Parliament approved a nonbinding solution to chopped disconnected Russia from the alleged SWIFT strategy of planetary payments if its troops entered Ukraine. Such a determination would spell acold toward blocking Russian businesses from the planetary fiscal system, adjacent though Moscow has developed its ain parallel strategy successful mentation for specified a move.

Western allies reportedly considered specified a measurement during earlier escalations of tensions implicit Russia's actions regarding Ukraine. In 2019, then-Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned that cutting Russia disconnected SWIFT would efficaciously magnitude to a “declaration of war.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine has amassed astir 125,000 troops — astir fractional of the size of its subject — adjacent the struggle zone. She besides pointed astatine an expanding fig of violations of a cease-fire successful the east.

Amid the tensions, Moscow connected Wednesday launched drills successful southwestern Russia involving implicit 10,000 troops. A smaller workout besides began successful Russia's westernmost portion of Kaliningrad connected the Baltic, involving 1,000 unit from armored units.

Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula successful 2014 aft the country’s Kremlin-friendly president was driven from powerfulness by wide protests. Moscow besides threw its value down a separatist insurgency successful Ukraine’s eastbound concern heartland, known arsenic the Donbas. More than 14,000 radical person died successful the fighting.

Ukraine and the West accused Russia of sending its troops and weapons to backmost the rebels. Moscow denied that, charging that Russians who joined the separatists were volunteers.

In Wednesday's code to parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for negotiations with Russia to extremity the struggle successful the east.

“We indispensable archer the information — we wouldn't beryllium capable to halt the warfare without nonstop talks with Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “We aren't acrophobic of a nonstop dialogue.”

The Kremlin responded by reaffirming its long-held stance that Russia isn't a enactment to the conflict, describing the warring successful the eastbound arsenic a civilian war.

“The warfare successful Donbas is Ukraine's interior business,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We cognize astir the attempts to formed Russia arsenic a enactment to the conflict, but it's not so. It's lone imaginable to extremity the warfare successful Donbas done talks betwixt Ukrainians.”

Peskov said the Ukrainian unit attraction successful Donbas could herald an effort by Kyiv to reclaim power of the rebel-held territory.

“It makes america interest that inclinations to lick the Donbas occupation by unit could prevail,” helium said. “It's a precise unsafe adventurism."

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David Keyton successful Riga, Latvia, Lorne Cook successful Brussels, Yuras Karmanau successful Kyiv, Ukraine, and Ellen Knickmeyer successful Washington contributed.

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