Putin demands immediate talks with NATO on Russian security

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that he wants "immediate" talks with the United States and NATO over security guarantees amid the rising pressures between Russia, Ukraine, and the West. 

A phone conversation between Putin and the Finnish President Sauli Niinsto took place where Putin reiterated and stressed that he wants negotiations to take place with no delay. 

"Finland is a traditional mediator between Russia and its Western opponents," Putin made clear. 

The Kremlin released a statement after the said conversation, saying that Putin indicated the need to immediately launch negotiations with the United States and NATO to “determine legal guarantees for the security of our country, with the aim of ruling out the future expansion of the alliance to the east and the deployment of weapons systems that threaten Russia in Ukraine and other neighboring countries." 

Denying that Russia planning an invasion, Putin contended to the Finnish president that he wants "to immediately launch negotiations with the United States and NATO in order to develop international legal guarantees for the security of our country," according to the Kremlin. 

Putin, reiterating the same demands with France's Emmanuel Macron, demanded that NATO stop expanding east and deploying weapons in the region, including in Ukraine. 

Furthermore, Putin contended that Ukraine is using "heavy weapons and attack drones" against pro-Russia militants in Donbas. 

The Kremlin rejects accusations made by Western countries about its intention to take military action against Ukraine, saying that "Russia is threatened by NATO, which is arming Kiev and intensifying its deployment of aircraft and ships in the Black Sea region."

Putin again accused the Ukrainian authority of violating the Minsk Accords, which laid out a road map for achieving peace in eastern Ukraine, Donbas.

Germany blocks NATO weapons supply: Zelenksy

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's President, accused Germany, which is an ally for Ukraine, of blocking a supply of NATO weapons for Kiev. 

"Germany has recently prevented us from getting anti-drone rifles and anti-sniper systems from NATO, which are exclusively defense tools," Zelensky said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica published Tuesday. 

Ukraine receives new batch of Javelin anti-tank missileshttps://t.co/qP0bzSwLZw pic.twitter.com/BMQVNFSLAt

— Defence Blog (@Defence_blog) June 18, 2020

Zelenksy went on to threaten Russia, assuming that there may be an invasion: "Is Russian society ready to pay with the lives of its sons for the attempt to occupy another part of Ukraine?" he asked. 

Recently, Kiev has managed to purchase some defense systems including the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile system, and Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones.