NATO foreign ministers will discuss Russia's demands for European security on January 7th

 

 NATO foreign ministers will hold an emergency video conference on January 7 to discuss Russia's demands on European security. This was announced on Tuesday on the official page of the Alliance on the social network "Twitter", TACC reports.

 "On Friday, January 7, an extraordinary meeting of NATO foreign ministers will be held in a virtual format. The ministers will discuss the concentration of Russian forces on the territory of Ukraine (meaning Crimea - TASS note) and around it, as well as broader issues of European security, "the statement said. The meeting was convened on the eve of the first Russia-NATO Council (NRC) in two and a half years, to be held on January 12th. At it, the Russian Federation intends to discuss its requirements for European security. 

 NATO officials confirmed to TASS that a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on 12 January called on Moscow to "take into account the Alliance's concerns". The council last met in the summer of 2019 and ended without any practical results. Brussels will also host a meeting of the NATO Military Committee at the level of Chiefs of Staff on 12-13 January.

 "NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, as President of the NATO-Russia Council, convened a meeting on 12 January 2022," the press service said. The text emphasizes that "dialogue with Russia must be conducted on the basis of reciprocity, respond to NATO's concerns about Russia's actions, be based on basic principles and fundamental documents of European security, and be conducted in parallel with consultations with NATO's European partners. "

 NATO has not yet clarified the agenda of the meeting. Earlier, Russia announced its intention to discuss its European security initiatives, which include calls for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Europe, a refusal to deploy conventional NATO forces near the Russian Federation's borders and the rejection of Alliance of the course for the accession of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO.

For his part, Stoltenberg repeatedly stated in December that he proposed convening the council in early 2022 "to discuss the situation in and around Ukraine" and rumors of "concentrating Russian forces near the border with Ukraine."

 In late December, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden had a 50-minute telephone conversation. Aide to Russian leader Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the Kremlin is pleased with the contact between the presidents of the two countries; in general, the direction of the conversation was constructive. According to him, the main topic of conversation was the upcoming negotiations on security guarantees, and the leaders agreed to keep progress under personal control and maintain telephone contacts.

 Moscow expects that negotiations with the United States will provide legal guarantees for NATO's refusal to move east and deploy threatening weapons systems near Russia's borders. The US president, as Ushakov noted, agreed with this view. Putin warned that new sanctions against Russia could severely sever ties with the United States and seriously damage its ties with the West as a whole.

Russian-US security talks are expected to begin on January 10. They will be held in Geneva.