NATO has rejected Moscow's main request

 

 In Brussels, NATO Headquarters hosted the second of three meetings scheduled as part of security talks between the Russian Federation and the West. The result: Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance were not satisfied with the proposals they made, but the countries did not give up further dialogue, the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

The four-hour meeting in Brussels took the form of a Russia-NATO Council meeting, a format that has not been used for two and a half years. In fact, the very composition of the Russian delegation was a reference to the time when Moscow's cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance was still going on.

 The Russian delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, the Russian Federation's last permanent representative to NATO.

 "At the NATO-Russia Council today, I emphasized the basic principles of the international system and European security: each country has the sovereign right to choose its own path," she wrote on Twitter. At a briefing after the talks, Sherman said NATO allies "in full unity" support the position. Simply put, they have decided not to guarantee Moscow that the Alliance will not expand.

 Stoltenberg, for his part, said the Russian Federation had not yet accepted proposals for extensive security consultations, including restrictions on missile weapons. "Russia did not agree immediately (to consultations), but they (representatives of the Russian Federation) did not refuse. They said they needed time to return to NATO with an answer, "he said.

 "What we are doing now is working with the Germans, with the European Union, to delay their consideration of the launch of the pipeline. The German government has taken significant steps towards this, "Newland said. This is the first confession by an employee of the administration of US President Joe Biden that the launch of the pipeline has been postponed under pressure from the White House. Newland confirmed that Germany is ready to completely abandon the project in the event of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

 "Russia's proposals were presented in mid-December. Then what happened in Kazakhstan happened. This was obviously a surprise to the Kremlin. Legally binding security contracts are concluded during a period of stability. "When tectonic changes occur in this area, the value of such agreements decreases," the expert said.