US responses on security guarantees do not contain a positive answer on the main issue of the inadmissibility of further NATO expansion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
"There is no positive response on the main issue in this document. The main issue is our clear position on the inadmissibility of further NATO expansion to the East and the deployment of shock weapons that could threaten the territory of the Russian Federation," the minister said, commenting on Washington's response to Moscow's proposals on security guarantees.
At the same time, according to Lavrov, the US response allows to count on the beginning of a serious conversation, but on secondary topics. "As for the contents of the document, there is a reaction there that allows one to count on the beginning of a serious conversation, but on secondary topics," the head of the Russian diplomatic office said.
He expressed confidence that the public will know the content of the US security response in the near future.
"I think the content of the response will become known to the public in the very near future. As our American colleagues have told us (although they prefer to keep the document for confidential diplomatic dialogue), it has been agreed with all US allies and the Ukrainian side. There is no doubt that it will "leak" in the very near future?" said the Russian foreign minister.
NATO's "deceitful position"
Lavrov stressed that Russia will focus on explaining the West's deceitful position on the impossibility of guaranteeing NATO's non-expansion.
"If in the 1990s we were told (about new members of the alliance - TASS) that there were no written obligations on the non-extension of NATO, now we have these written obligations. They have been confirmed more than once within the OSCE, including at the highest level. Now we will focus on explanation of this false position of our western counterparts," pointed out the minister.
He pointed out that Western countries began explaining their policy of reckless expansion of the alliance "quite in a mature manner" when the Russian side was showing arguments about their promises to stop NATO's advancement to the East.
"Now that we have not verbal promises but written documents signed by the leaders of all OSCE countries, including the US president - the Istanbul Declaration of 1999 and the Astana Declaration of 2010 - our Western partners have to get out of a more serious situation," added the Russian foreign minister. According to these documents, the right to choose alliances is "clearly conditioned by the need to consider the security interests of any other OSCE state, including the Russian Federation".
The minister emphasized that in the issue of NATO non-expansion the West deliberately omits the principle that one cannot strengthen one's security at the expense of others. "Neither the Istanbul nor the Astana declarations are mentioned by our Western partners in the discussions on European security that are taking place now. They are being carefully avoided. We cannot accept this situation," stated Lavrov.
Lavrov pointed out that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at talks in Geneva on January 21, said nothing to his request to explain on what basis Western countries "view the commitments made within the OSCE exclusively as a 'menu'".
"I warned him, as well as our other colleagues, that in the very near future we will send them an official request to explain why they are pulling out only one item from their own commitments, and they are trying to ignore the conditions of this favorite item for them," the minister said. - "It will be an official request to all the countries whose leaders signed the Istanbul and Astana declarations. Hopefully, in this case, it will not take much time to explain why the West takes such a position".
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS