Russia demands withdrawal of US military in Europe

Created: 02/17/2022Updated: 02/17/2022 7:29 p.m

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called for an end to NATO's eastward expansion.

© Alexei Nikolsky/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa

Russia reacted to the US proposals for security in Europe with an angry letter.

Moscow accuses NATO of violating its own rules.

Can there still be negotiations?

Moscow/Washington - In a sharp tone, Russia wrote a letter to the United States calling on it to withdraw its armed forces from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Baltic States.

This emerges from a letter published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"We are convinced that the national potential in these zones is quite sufficient," said the paper, which was presented to US Ambassador John Sullivan in Moscow on Thursday.

At the same time, Russia stressed that it was not planning an attack on Ukraine.

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly called for an end to NATO's eastward expansion and warned against including Ukraine in the alliance because this would lead to war.

As a NATO member, Ukraine could try to use military force to take back the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014, the new document said.

Particular emphasis is placed on the principle of the indivisibility of security.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the security of one country should not be at the expense of another.

Nevertheless, in the case of Ukraine, NATO insists on the right to choose alliances freely and on an open-door policy.

"This freedom is not absolute," the letter said.

On the contrary, NATO and the USA have committed themselves in numerous documents - which are listed - not to harm the interests of others.

Legitimate interests should not be threatened

In particular, NATO made a written commitment as early as 1991 not to threaten the “legitimate interests of other states” and not to draw any new dividing lines.

A binding renunciation of further eastward expansion of NATO is therefore now expected, the ministry emphasized.

It is one of the foundations of the European security architecture that NATO refrain from harmful actions against Russia.

In the Ukraine conflict it is now important to get the government in Kiev to implement the peace plan for the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in the east of the country.

To this end, the western supply of arms to Ukraine should also be ended, the maneuvers of NATO countries stopped there and all foreign military advisers should be withdrawn from the country.

Russia described the military activities of the USA and NATO directly on its borders as threatening.

At the same time, Moscow forbade Washington's reproaches about where Russian troops could be stationed on their own territory.

Movements of Russian forces, including along the Ukrainian border, in no way affect the fundamental interests of the United States, it said.

Safety guarantees ignored?

The Russian letter is the response to the US written response to the security guarantees for Europe demanded by Russia.

Washington has largely ignored Moscow's proposals, it said.

The US State Department confirmed that the letter from the Russian side included an offer of new talks on security issues in Europe.

This also included the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from NATO countries that are not nuclear powers - such as Germany.

Russia has again threatened military countermeasures if an agreement on security issues in Europe is not possible.

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The Russian Security Council had described the US military, with its tens of thousands of soldiers and tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, as a threat to Russia.

To deter Russia, the United States had stationed its own troops there with a strength of 60,000 soldiers, 200 tanks and 150 combat aircraft.

"Your main goal in Europe is to create a permanent threat to our country," Deputy Secretary of the Security Council Mikhail Popov told the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

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