In a written response to Russia’s demands delivered in person by its ambassador in Moscow, the US repeated its commitment to upholding NATO’s “open-door” policy while offering a “principled and pragmatic evaluation” of the Kremlin’s concerns, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Russia has demanded NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar its neighbor Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining. Washington and its NATO allies reject that position but say they are ready to discuss other topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures. NATO says it is putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, while the U.S., Britain and others are providing weapons to help Ukraine defend against Russia’s much larger army.
Western-Russian differences were on full display on Tuesday with US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., saying he would consider imposing sanctions personally on Putin if he invades Ukraine, part of an attempt by Washington to convince Moscow that any new action against Ukraine would bring massive costs.
Mr. Peskov has previously said that imposing sanctions on Putin would amount to a severing of diplomatic relations.Russia staged new military drills on land and on the Black Sea on Wednesday and moved more paratroopers and fighter jets to Belarus, north of Ukraine, for what it describes as joint exercises there next month.
The spat highlights the complicated task the U.S. faces in trying to build agreement with European allies, who maintain strong business relations with Russia and rely heavily on it for energy, on a strong sanctions package if Moscow attacks.
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