Former US Ambassador Pifer: Washington will accept some conditions of the Russian Federation on security guarantees
Stephen Pifer. Photo: Hennadii Minchenko / Globallookpress.com
Former US ambassador to Kiev, an employee of the American Brookings Institution, Stephen Pifer, said that Washington will accept certain conditions of Russia on security guarantees, in particular, it is allowed to limit the military exercises of the West in Ukraine. The words of the diplomat are quoted by the Associated Press.
He pointed out that for this Moscow should be serious about negotiations. At the same time, key NATO members made it clear that they do not plan to expand the alliance in the near future.
“The proposed in the draft treaty ban on any NATO military activities in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus or Central Asia is excessive, but some measures to limit military exercises and actions on a reciprocal basis may be possible,” Pifer said.
Earlier, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that Putin and Biden discussed the issue of providing security guarantees from the United States. The parties agreed to continue the dialogue, on the whole, the American colleague reacted seriously and logically to the point of view of the Russian leader, who, in turn, stressed several times the main provisions that Moscow adheres to.
The conversation between the Russian and American leaders began at 15.35 Washington time (23.35 Moscow time) on Thursday, December 30, and ended at 16.25 (00.25 Moscow time Friday, December 31), the White House said. In total, the dialogue lasted 50 minutes. According to Ushakov, the parties “had a substantive discussion”, the main topics were touched upon.
