MOSCOW, Nov 30 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was supposed to call US President Joe Biden to take into account the interests of Russia before the start of a special operation in Ukraine, former finance minister, ex-chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany Oscar Lafontaine said in an interview with Der Westen.
The politician explained that there were opportunities for negotiations before the escalation of the conflict.
"The main problem was that the US sharply rejected Moscow's demand not to place military installations on the Russian border. In this regard, the situation was difficult. Here you need to ask a question to the Federal Chancellor (Scholz. — Approx. ed.). Not only to him, but also to the President of France and the leaders of other European countries. They should have urged the Americans to consider Russia's security interests,» Lafontaine said.
According to him, today many politicians understand this mistake and recognize that there can be no peace in Europe without Russia.
«Missiles cannot be placed on the border of a nuclear power. In this case, these are American missiles with a flight time of several minutes,» the ex-head of the SPD noted.
At the end of last year, Russia published draft treaties with the United States and agreements with NATO on security assurances. Moscow demanded legal guarantees of refusing to further expand the alliance to the east, from joining the Ukrainian bloc and from establishing military bases in post-Soviet countries. The proposals also contained a clause on the non-deployment of NATO strike weapons near Russia's borders and the withdrawal of alliance forces in Eastern Europe to the positions of 1997. Moscow has been conducting a military special operation in Ukraine since February 24. President Vladimir Putin called it the ultimate goal of the liberation of Donbass and the creation of conditions that guarantee the security of Russia.