Russia's Key Proposals Met with Negative Response from the US: What Reaction to Expect

President Vladimir Putin of Russia met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Footage of the working meeting between the President of the Russian Federation and the Foreign Minister was broadcast by Russia 24.

“We have agreed that today the Foreign Ministry will present its assessments regarding the responses received from Washington and Brussels on the concerns we have expressed. In our opinion, the eastward expansion of NATO, this time at the expense of former Soviet countries, including Ukraine, is becoming limitless and extremely dangerous,” said Putin.

According to the President, he wants to receive information on the analyses that the Foreign Ministry has jointly conducted with other departments.

The Foreign Minister stated that there are opportunities to reach an agreement with the Western side. Lavrov noted that Russia has received negative responses on most issues from the United States and NATO, but recent meetings and Putin's conversations with foreign leaders indicate that “not all means to reach an agreement have been exhausted.”

Recently, Putin has met with the President of France and the Prime Minister of Hungary, has had phone conversations with the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and tomorrow, the Chancellor of Germany will arrive in Moscow.

On December 17, 2021, Russia demanded legal assurances on security guarantees from the United States and NATO and, in particular, a clear promise that the former Soviet countries, specifically Georgia and Ukraine, would never join the North Atlantic Alliance. The West has rejected most of these demands, with NATO emphasizing that any state has the right to join whichever alliance it wishes. Simultaneously, NATO has noted that at this moment, the issue of Georgia or Ukraine's membership is not on the agenda.