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Russian President Vladimir Putin has again called for “immediate” talks with the United States and NATO on security guarantees as tensions continue to rise over the Ukraine issue.
Putin made the request during telephone conversations on December 14 with his counterparts from Finland and France, the Kremlin said.
In recent weeks, Ukraine and its Western backers have accused Russia of massively gathering troops near the border with Ukraine and of the possibility of Moscow invading Ukraine next month.
Russian officials deny that Moscow is preparing any offensive and accuse Ukraine of provocation. Russia insists it has the right to deploy its forces wherever it wants within the state.
During talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Putin “reiterated the urgent need to start talks with the United States and NATO in order to create legal guarantees for the security of our state,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
This leaders, according to the Kremlin, have also talked about the crisis with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Putin also expressed his position that he wants immediate talks with Western countries, in order to prevent NATO expansion to the east.
“The Russian president has stressed the importance of the immediate start of international negotiations that would enable the creation of legal guarantees, which would prevent any further NATO expansion to the east and would send weapons to neighboring countries – especially Ukraine – “They threaten Russia,” said the Kremlin.
Putin made similar demands during the virtual meeting with US President Joe Biden last week, but also during the telephone conversation he held on December 13 with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The European Union’s foreign ministers met in Brussels on December 13 to coordinate sanctions in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
So far, the EU has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia over its annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia. However, this country is not a member of NATO, although in recent years it has deepened defense and military cooperation with the United States, Sweden and Norway.
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