Wednesday saw a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels, with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz among the participants, the state PAP news agency reported.
“The Russians obviously outlined their expectations for what would in fact be a change of the security architecture in this part of the world,” Przydacz said after the talks.
"We know these expectations well enough," he added.
He was referring to Russia’s demands from December that NATO not admit Ukraine or expand further eastward.
“What’s important is that all the allies approached this situation in a principled and cohesive manner,” Przydacz said. “We won’t allow this attempt at restoring spheres of influence, controlled by superpowers, to form the basis for any negotiations or discussions.”
Przydacz added: “NATO absolutely spoke with one voice, urging the Russian side to de-escalate not just its troop movements around Ukraine, but also the activities designed to destabilise the situation in Ukraine and other countries, mainly the neighbours of the Russian Federation.”
Przydacz told reporters that NATO’s “cohesive stance was appropriately understood and interpreted by the Russians.”
More talks ahead
Przydacz said that all the allies "recognised the value of dialogue," adding that bilateral US-Russian talks were ongoing and that multilateral discussions with Moscow would continue as part of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which Poland is presiding over in 2022.
Poland’s top diplomat Zbigniew Rau is set to moderate talks on Thursday in his role as the OSCE’s Chairperson-in-Office, Przydacz told the media.
NATO on Wednesday voiced its readiness to talk with Russia about arms control and missile deployments but said it would not allow Moscow to block Ukraine's ambition to join the Western military alliance, warning of a real risk of a new war in Europe, the Reuters news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters