Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lambasted the US and its allies for “deceiving” Russia over the expansion of NATO, but suggested further talks might yield a resolution that address Moscow’s security concerns.
“I hope that dialogue will continue,” Putin said in his first detailed public comments since December on the tensions.
Western officials say Russia has built up more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and warned of punishing economic sanctions if Moscow invades, something the Kremlin says it does not plan to do.
Putin reiterated that US responses delivered last week to Moscow’s security proposals “ignored” Moscow’s key demands: binding commitments not to expand NATO further in the east and not to deploy offensive weapons near Russia’s borders, as well as to roll back alliance military infrastructure in eastern Europe.
However, he said he hoped a diplomatic resolution could yet be found.
“We realize it won’t be easy and of course I’m not ready today to say what that will be,” Putin said at a Kremlin press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Although Moscow has so far ignored Western calls to pull its troops back from the border with Ukraine, Putin’s comments suggested the Kremlin is willing to continue talks, even though the US and its allies have rejected his main demands outright.
The US says NATO is a defensive alliance and not a threat to Russia.
To help address Russian concerns, Washington has offered to discuss limits on missile deployments and military maneuvers in Europe. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov called those “secondary issues” after a telephone call on Tuesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but also suggested diplomacy would continue.
Russia is still deciding on its formal response to the latest US proposals and will present it to Putin for a decision on how to proceed, Lavrov said.
In his comments, Putin repeated accusations that NATO reneged on assurances made in the early 1990s that the alliance would not expand in the east.
He added that US missile defense systems in Romania and Poland are a threat to Russia, as they could be used to launch cruise missiles.
The US says no binding assurances were given on alliance expansion and insists it has no plans to deploy such weapons in those countries.
Putin accused the US of using Ukraine as a tool to “contain” Russia.
He detailed his fears about possible NATO membership for Ukraine, saying that once part of the alliance, Kiev could use Western cover to undertake a military move to retake Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
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