Putin announces talks with the United States on security guarantees

sour president Vladimir Putin At her annual news conference on Thursday, she said the first Western reactions to Russian demands for “security guarantees” for Washington and NATO were “generally positive.” Putin announced that initial talks should take place in Geneva, Switzerland, early next year.

This was confirmed by a statement by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday that Russia and the United States will hold the first round of bilateral talks on “security guarantees” in January. Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy advisor, and National Security Adviser to the US President Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan, had several conversations. Representatives on both sides have already been named. Later, also in January, Lavrov said they wanted to negotiate the agreement demanded by NATO.

“Population brainwashing”

Putin has now admonished Ukraine and the West. One gets the impression that Kiev may be preparing a military operation against the pro-Russian “people’s republics” in Donbass and that Russia is “warned in advance: do not interfere, do not protect these people,” otherwise there will be “new sanctions.” Putin said that Russia should be prepared There is a possibility that the West intends to create an “anti-Russian” in Ukraine, through “the brainwashing of the population” and “modern weapons”, after which “extremists” are sent Under their cover to the Donbass and the Ukrainian Crimea, annexed in 2014.

He also accused the West of using Russians who “serve foreign interests” to try to thwart Russia. “You cannot defeat Russia, you can only bring it down from within,” this has been the centuries-old motto of opponents. Putin said Russia was “too big” in their view, and again accused the West of supporting terrorists in the North Caucasus in the 1990s.

Regarding the new Russian attack on Ukraine that the West fears and in Kiev, Putin said that Russia’s actions will depend on ensuring the country’s unconditional security in the long term. These guarantees must be given “immediately now,” because the Americans have advanced “to our doorstep.” He repeated Moscow’s offer, which said that NATO had promised Russia that there would be no expansion in the east. This representation is contested by the Alliance and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, among others. Putin denied that Russia threatens neighboring countries.