Representatives of the thirty countries of the Atlantic Alliance met Wednesday, January 12, in Brussels, with Moscow emissaries. If the Western allies rejected the demand of the Kremlin of a judgment of the enlargement of their organization, the two parties have avoided that their discussions only lead to a break.
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It was necessary to look at it carefully, but there was well had “a positive signal”, according to the formula of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, at the NATO-Russian Council on Wednesday, January 12 in Brussels . This “signal” touted by Jens Stoltenberg is that a discussion took place, since this body met – for the first time since July 2019 – and that it has not led to a break.
For the rest, the negotiators of both parties agreed upon, the gap has remained gaping between the positions of the thirty allies and their Russian interlocutor, so much on a possible judgment of the enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance than on the requirement. withdrawal from the NATO forces of the country’s territory joined after 1997 – eleven states in total, which became members between 1999 and 2017.
“The differences will be difficult to overcome,” said Stoltenberg after the meeting, provoked by the constant rise of tensions around Ukraine and the Russian initiative for a redesign of the European security order . One of the two major Russian negotiators, Alexandre Grouchko, Deputy Foreign Minister, found these “fundamental” discrepancies. But the Russian diplomacy had previously mentioned measured expectations, faithful to his antian who wants the only decision maker, in the affairs of Europeans, is in Washington.
Wednesday, at a point at the press, Mr. Grouchko spoke of a “frank and clear as ever” exchange, but without mentioning progress. He explained at length the foundations of Moscow’s position, born in reaction to the “contiguous” policy of Russia, according to him, by NATO.
It depends on Putin
The answer provided Wednesday to the main request of Moscow, the stop of enlargement, is the same as that provided on Monday by the American side, during bilateral discussions with Russia organized in Geneva. Repeated by the same voice by the thirty members of the Alliance, this answer is similar to an end of non-reception. As for the attempt to impose negotiation with the United States alone, it faced a veto: Wendy Sherman, the American negotiator, has heavily insisted, at the end of the Brussels meeting, on the fact that The NATO unit was “total”. She launched Europeans – and the Ukrainians: “The United States will not decide anything about you without you.”
Everything now depends on Vladimir Putin, suggested – m me Sherman. After two high-level meetings, in Geneva and Brussels, the positions are clearly exposed and Westerners have indicated that they were ready to debate only one of the three major Russian requests: the limitation of future deployments of NATO in territories where they could be considered by Moscow as threesome. Mr. Stoltenberg suggests, in this respect, upcoming missile discussions and their use on European soil “verifiable and reciprocally”. But “the Russian side made it clear that it was not ready,” he said.
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