Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. File photoMOSCOW, Feb. 19 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a conversation with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian, stressed that ignoring Russian demands on security guarantees has a detrimental effect on the situation in Europe, the report says. In the development of Russian initiatives to harmonize legally secured security guarantees in Europe, Lavrov emphasized to Le Drian the need for all states to conscientiously comply with the commitments approved at the highest level in the OSCE and within the framework of relations between Russia and NATO to ensure equal and indivisible security based on a balance interests of the parties. He emphasized that ignoring the legitimate rights of Russia in this area adversely affects stability not only on the European continent, but also in the world as a whole,» the ministry said in a statement on its website. At the end of 2021, Russia published draft treaties with the United States and agreements with NATO on security assurances. Moscow, in particular, demands from its Western partners legal guarantees of refusing further eastward expansion of NATO, joining the Ukrainian bloc, and establishing military bases in post-Soviet countries. The proposals also contain a clause on the non-deployment of NATO strike weapons near the borders of Russia and the withdrawal of alliance forces in Eastern Europe to the positions of 1997. on space for security dialoguePosted by: Daria Buimova
