In a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin again urged the West to provide written assurances that it would not expand further east. He called for the immediate start of international negotiations to draw up legally fixed guarantees, excluding any further eastward movement and the deployment of weapons threatening Russia in its neighboring countries and especially in Ukraine, TASS reported, citing a press release from The Kremlin.
The statement said the issue was also touched upon during a recent video conference between Putin and US President Joe Biden.
"The Russian leader called on the French partners to be sympathetic to the concerns expressed and to participate in their discussion," the statement added.
Earlier, Putin called on NATO to launch substantial talks aimed at providing Russia with credible and long-term security guarantees. The President clarified that Russia needs legal guarantees, as its Western counterparts have not previously fulfilled their respective oral obligations. On December 7, Putin and Biden held a video link. The presidents agreed to instruct their representatives to launch substantial consultations on sensitive issues. A spokesman for the Russian leader, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters earlier that Moscow would submit security proposals to the United States through diplomatic channels this week.
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