Putin Not Serious About Peace, US Senator Says Amid Russian NATO Demands
Russia is demanding that NATO return its military presence in Europe to 1997 levels, effectively seeking to roll back the Alliance’s military footprint in countries that joined it afterward. US Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, a Republican, called the demands absurd and questioned whether further negotiations with Moscow to end its war against Ukraine were worthwhile, UATV…
Russian demands for NATO to reduce its military presence in Europe to 1997 levels have been deemed absurd by US Senator Tom Cotton, who questioned the feasibility of further negotiations with the Kremlin to end its war against Ukraine, according to UATV English. The senator argued that the Kremlin's ultimatum demonstrated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not serious about a negotiated peace, as the demand for NATO troops to withdraw from their own territories was unrealistic and impractical.
Cotton stated that Putin has proven he is not interested in a negotiated peace, and further negotiations at this stage were pointless. He emphasized that Russia would only agree to end the war when it accepted the impossibility of a military victory over Ukraine. The senator called on the US to support Ukraine in proving that it can prevail in the conflict.
During closed-door talks in Abu Dhabi, Russian representatives presented US mediators with a document outlining Moscow's proposals for a future European security framework. The demands included returning NATO's military presence to 1997 levels, prohibiting further expansion of the Alliance, and limiting its military activities in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.
These demands echoed Russia's previous proposals in late 2021, just before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If implemented, the restrictions would significantly impact NATO's military presence in Central and Eastern Europe, affecting countries like Poland and the Baltic states. Despite ongoing negotiations to end the war, no fundamental agreement on ending hostilities was reached during meetings in Abu Dhabi, where Ukrainian, US, and Russian representatives discussed security guarantees and humanitarian issues.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alleged that Russia was unwilling to support a ceasefire proposal, as the Kremlin claimed it lacked the authority to make such a decision, asserting that Putin himself did not support a ceasefire.
Written by urgent.news from UATV English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
