West should initiate talks with Russia over its security concerns: US expert
According to the expert, a respectful serious conversation on the provision of security guarantees will improve the situation around Ukraine.
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Representative of the Schiller Institute, Richard Black.
To alleviate tensions, the West should begin conversations with Moscow on the security concerns raised by Russia in late 2021, according to Richard Black, a representative of the Schiller Institute.
"The highly reasoned proposals of the Russian Federation to NATO and the West, put forward in December by [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin that mutual security is guaranteed between the United States, West, and Europe, and Russia has to be negotiated, and the simple clear principles laid out in the treaties proposed by the Russian Federation in December have to be negotiated," Black said when asked what should the West do to ease tensions with Russia.
He believes that a respectful serious conversation between the parties on the provision of security guarantees will improve the situation around Ukraine, including establishing a ceasefire, as well as neutrality of the country.
Earlier this week, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia-West negotiations on security guarantees could hardly proceed as the situation has drastically changed.
During Russia’s December 2021 security proposals to NATO and the United States, Moscow highlighted the necessity of guarantees that the alliance would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia. In response, Washington insisted it will not allow anyone to slam the alliance's open-door policy shut.
The draft agreements also imposed a ban for the United States and Russia to deploy intermediate and short-range missiles through a striking distance of each other's territory, among other terms.
