US Written Response Seen as Turning Point in Ukraine Military Crisis
[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] As the United States has promised to respond within this week to Russia's security guarantee demands, Russia has reiterated that it will take concrete countermeasures if there is no constructive response.
On the 26th (local time), according to RIA Novosti and other sources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appeared before the lower house parliament's government inquiry and stated, "If there is no constructive answer to (Russia's security guarantee demands) and the West continues its offensive stance, Russia will take the necessary countermeasures as President Putin has mentioned several times."
He added, "I hope the United States keeps its promise to provide a written response to the security guarantee demands this week," and "Based on the content of this response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with other government departments, will prepare a proposal report to submit to President Vladimir Putin."
He also criticized the United States for encouraging Ukraine's provocations against Russia instead of pressuring the Ukrainian leadership to implement the 'Minsk Peace Agreement' aimed at resolving the conflict in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. He introduced that President Putin recently agreed to strengthen strategic cooperation across various fields through phone calls with leaders of Latin American countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
Earlier, on the 21st, Minister Lavrov demanded a written response to Russia's security guarantee demands during negotiations with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held in Geneva, Switzerland, and the U.S. side promised to provide a response within this week.
Russia is demanding a security guarantee agreement with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that excludes additional NATO membership for former Soviet states such as Ukraine and guarantees that NATO will not deploy offensive weapons in countries near Russia. Russia and the West have held a series of negotiations since mid-month to discuss Russia's demands and easing tensions heightened by Russia's alleged preparations to invade Ukraine, but no concrete results have emerged.
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