“We categorically do not accept the appearance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on our own borders, considering, above all, the course taken by the Ukrainian leadership, both previous (Poroshenko) and current (Zelensky),” he emphasized at a press conference.
The foreign minister clarified that the West knows that the issue of the presence of troops and weapons from other countries in territories close to Russia’s borders constitutes one of the “red lines” considered inviolable by Moscow.
He gave the example that even if Ukraine remains outside NATO, it could reach bilateral agreements with the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western countries for the establishment of military bases in the Sea of Azov.
He also mentioned that the European Union is currently promoting a plan to send a military training mission to Ukraine. “That is, they also want to contribute to the training of anti-Russian units,” he said.
Lavrov pointed out that the West demands that Russia send its troops back to the barracks while on their own soil, while US, Canadian, British forces are stationed, and military bases are being built, in the Baltic states and the countries of Northern Europe, as well as in the Black and Azov seas, which in Lavrov’s words is “categorically not right, it is an unacceptable approach”.
The official explained that the moment chosen by Moscow to demand legally binding security guarantees from the United States and NATO member countries only reflects the period in which the West went too far in actions that constitute clear threats to Russia.
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