Top NATO and Russian officials are meeting to try to bridge deep differences over the future of Ukraine amid deep skepticism that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s security proposals for easing tensions are genuine.
The Associated Pressbut left open Wednesday the possibility of future talks with Moscow on arms control, missile deployments and ways to prevent military incidents between Russia and the West.
Speaking after the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed that some of Putin’s security demands “are simply non-starters.” Russia denies that it has fresh plans to attack its neighbor and in turn accuses the West of threatening its security by positioning military personnel and equipment in Central and Eastern Europe.
Stoltenberg said NATO is keen to discuss ways to prevent dangerous military incidents or accidents involving Russia and the Western allies, reducing space and cyber threats, as well as setting limits on missile deployments and other arms control initiatives. Stoltenberg underlined that Ukraine has the right to decide its future security arrangements and that NATO would continue to leave its door open to new members.Grushko, who described Wednesday’s talks as “serious, deep and substantive,” countered by saying that"the freedom to choose ways of ensuring one’s security mustn’t be implemented in a way that infringes on legitimate security interests of others.
The NATO-Russia Council was set up two decades ago, but full meetings paused when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula nearly eight years ago. It has met only sporadically since.
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