NATO and the United States have reiterated to Russia in two separate written responses that withdrawing NATO troops from Eastern Europe and not admitting Ukraine to NATO is “out of the question”. This was reported by international news agencies on Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the parties are ready to discuss other topics with Russia, such as arms control and measures to improve mutual trust.
According to Blinken, the written letter, which Moscow had requested, is “a good way” to formulate the positions “as precisely as possible”. The US letter was personally delivered by the US ambassador in Moscow. Blinken expects his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to respond sometime in the coming days.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that NATO also sent a letter. At a press conference, he again called on Russia to “de-escalate the situation immediately” and said NATO is fully convinced that tensions and disagreements must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Recently, Russia has gradually built up its military presence on the border with Ukraine. About a hundred thousand troops are now active in the area, which is why there is a fear of an invasion of the Eastern European country. Russia itself denies having that intention. NATO is said to have noted that the Russian troop build-up continues unabated. According to Stoltenberg, the country would have sent “thousands of additional troops” to the region around Ukraine and neighboring Belarus, under the guise of “an exercise”. Russia would also move more modern weapons to the area.