31.12.2021, Moscow.
Russia is seeking to create a new system of legally binding security arrangements, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on December 31 in an interview to RIA Novosti.
The new system of agreements should be based on the principle of rejecting any attempts to resolve disputes between countries by military force or threats. The European security architecture proposed by Russia is rejecting further NATO’s expansion to the east, as well as the deployment of new strategic offensive weapons near Russian borders, including medium and short-range missiles.
“What we need is legally binding guarantees, since our Western colleagues systematically fail to fulfill political obligations, not to mention the verbal assurances and promises given to the Soviet and Russian leadership,” stressed the minister.
On December 17, Russia offered proposals of future security agreements with the US and NATO countries. Representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry previously stated that the US’s and NATO’s refusal to have a dialogue regarding security guarantees is pushing the parties towards escalating the confrontation.
Editorial comment
The systematic undermining of the previously existing international security system has become a stable trend over the past 20 years. The US has already managed to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, on medium and short-range missiles, and the Treaty on Open Skies, ignoring the Russian arguments.
The US and other members of the NATO alliance categorically refuse to discuss with Russia the problem of NATO’s expansion to the east.
Under these circumstances, Russia’s numerous proposals to create a new security system on the basis of joint interests with legally binding rules do not provoke strong interest among counterparts in Washington and Brussels. If the countries of the alliance perceive Russia as weak and on the defensive, then they have no need to seek legally binding agreements with us. It is more profitable for them to rely on the rule of the mighty, even though they talk endlessly about upholding a “world order based on rules.“
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
