Expert on disarmament Sokov: Russia’s uncompromising attitude is fraught with a severe crisis with the United States
Photo: Sergey Pivovarov / Reuters
The US refusal to provide guarantees on non-expansion of NATO did not come as a surprise, but Russia’s uncompromising attitude on this issue may be fraught with a severe crisis between the two countries. The failure of the negotiations will make even a war scenario real, said Nikolai Sokov, a leading researcher at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, in an interview with
According to him, Russia will never remove the requirement for non-expansion of the alliance. But if this issue does not prevent further negotiations, Russia and the United States can discuss arms control and the settlement of the conflict in the Donbas. The specialist noted that such consultations will be very long and difficult.
“From my point of view, these two issues — arms control and Donbass — are sufficient conditions to begin to get out of the crisis,” Sokov stressed.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about the content of Washington’s response to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees. According to the minister, the Americans did not touch on the most important points for the Russian Federation, including the issue of non-expansion of NATO. At the same time, the diplomat noted that Washington’s reaction to the Russian proposals still allows us to count on a serious conversation, but it will concern secondary topics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already personally read the responses of the United States and NATO on security guarantees. It is expected that soon he will decide how exactly to respond to the submitted documents.
