Russian Ambassador to Canada says NATO's expansion to Russian borders "unwarranted"

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According to the Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov, NATO's expansion to Russia's borders is "unwarranted' and raises serious concerns about the country's security.

Stepanov told CBC, "We believe that NATO's expansion up to our borders is unwarranted. And as we see the advance of the military infrastructure of NATO to our borders we are concerned for our security."

The Ambassador reiterated what Russia has been confirming for months, saying Russia has no desire to invade Ukraine and has no interest in war.

Furthermore, Stepanov stated that if Moscow does not have its requests answered, discussions on security assurances with NATO nations may collapse, and if the West imposes further sanctions on Russia, bilateral ties will be impacted. 

The US has repeatedly accused Russia of continuing to intensify its army buildup along Ukraine's border and issued new warnings against any "aggression" by Moscow, which Russia repeatedly denied while maintaining its right to defend its security. Consequently, Russia and the US held talks in Geneva to discuss the Ukraine situation. 

Russia has been demanding a written commitment that Ukraine would never be able to join NATO and that the alliance would not place any military equipment in certain countries in the region surrounding Russia.

On her part, the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the written response to Russia's security guarantee proposals will include Washington's concerns.

Russia submitted its security proposals in December, which included Washington and its allies to suspend NATO's eastward expansion to include other ex-Soviet countries and to renege on a 2008 pledge to admit Ukraine and Georgia.