Russia will get more NATO forces at its borders if it seeks to reduce the size of the alliance’s forces, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the Munich Security Conference.
“If Russia wants to divide us, it will actually get the opposite, it will get a more cohesive North Atlantic alliance. And if Russia wants less [сил] NATO is at its borders, it will get the opposite – it will get more NATO, ”said Stoltenberg (quoted by TASS).
Speaking about the situation around Ukraine, the NATO Secretary General said that Russia “is not too late to retreat and stop preparing for war.” He called for negotiations with the alliance and NATO allies “to find a political solution.”
On December 17 last year, the Foreign Ministry sent proposals on security guarantees to the United States and NATO, which contained a demand to abandon the further expansion of the alliance to the east, including the entry of Ukraine and Georgia into it.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has released responses to the US on security assurances. The document says that Washington did not provide Moscow with a constructive response to the “basic elements” of the draft security guarantees treaty. The agency warned that because the United States is not ready to negotiate legally binding security guarantees, “Russia will be forced to respond, including through the implementation of measures of a military-technical nature.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with RT, spoke about the principle “the kid said – the kid did”, which must be respected in the international arena. According to him, Moscow wants to convey to the United States and NATO member countries that promises will not satisfy it in this matter. As it turned out, the written commitments of the heads of state and government, according to which the North Atlantic Alliance must fully take into account the interests of Russia, are worth nothing, the minister added.