Russia will determine the contours of its own security

The Russian Foreign Ministry published a document entitled “About the transfer of a written response to the response of the American side on security guarantees”. It should be noted right away that this document was handed over on February 17 to the US Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, and, at the same time, the American side was notified that Russia was expelling Deputy US Ambassador Bart Gorman from Moscow. Given these circumstances, the prospect of further Russian-American relations looks quite certain.

The current document announced the reaction of the Russian leadership to the US response on the draft treaty between Russia and the United States on security guarantees of December 17, 2021. It should be recalled that the Spanish newspaper El País published the text of the US and NATO responses to the Russian proposals, and US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland confirmed their authenticity.

In the section "General characteristics" of the Russian document states that the American side did not give a constructive response to the basic elements of the draft treaty on security guarantees prepared by Russia with the United States. In particular, we are talking about the rejection of further expansion of NATO and the refusal to create military bases on the territory of non-member states of the alliance, as well as the return of NATO's infrastructure potential to the state of 1997, when the Russia-NATO Founding Act was signed. These provisions are of fundamental importance for Russia.

It is noted that the US response ignores the package nature of Russian proposals, and only selected individual topics that are formulated to create advantages for the United States and its allies. The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that this approach raises reasonable doubts that the United States really seeks to correct the situation in the field of European security.

The document states that the military activity of the United States and NATO directly at the Russian borders is alarming and, thus, the "red lines" outlined by Russia and fundamental security interests are ignored. In addition, the ultimatum demands to withdraw Russian troops from certain areas on Russian territory undermine the prospects for reaching agreements.

The text does not specify what specific "red lines" we are talking about, but it is enough to recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin at the investment forum "Russia is calling!" on 30.11.2021 and at the "Big press conference" on 23.12.2021 commented that the Russian "red lines" of security pass through Ukraine.

It is further stated that if the United States is not ready to agree on firm, legally binding security guarantees, Russia will be forced to respond, including by implementing military-technical measures.

Within the section "On Ukraine”, it is indicated that all statements by the leadership of the United States and its allies about the "Russian invasion" of Ukraine are an attempt to put pressure on Russia and devalue its proposals for security guarantees. If Ukraine is accepted into NATO, there is a real threat that its leadership will try to "return" Crimea by force, drawing the United States and its allies into a direct armed conflict with Russia, in accordance with Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.

The Russian side believes that in order to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine, it is necessary to force Kiev to implement the Minsk Agreements, stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, withdraw all Western advisers and instructors from there, and NATO countries should abandon any joint exercises with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and withdraw all foreign weapons previously delivered to Kiev from Ukrainian territory.

In the section "Configuration of forces" it is recorded that the United States ignores Russian proposals not to deploy armed forces outside national territories. Russia insists on the withdrawal of all US military forces and weapons stationed in central-eastern Europe, south-eastern Europe and the Baltic states.

The next section is named "The principle of indivisibility of security", it states that Russia does not see in the actions of the United States a commitment to comply with this principle, on the contrary, the United States follows a destabilising course to create advantages for itself and its allies at the expense of Russia's security interests, which goes in violation of the obligations that the United States has assumed under international law.

Then, in the section "NATO's ‘Open Door’ Policy”, Russia recalls that in June 1991, NATO pledged "not to extract unilateral advantages from the changed situation in Europe”, "not to threaten the legitimate interests" of other states, not to seek their "isolation" or "drawing new dividing lines on the continent”. In this regard, concrete proposals are expected from NATO members on the rejection of further expansion of NATO to the East.

The section "Package nature of the proposals" notes the readiness of the United States to work in detail on individual measures for arms control and risk reduction, which is part of the Russian proposals put forward in recent years.

However, the current Russian proposals are of a package nature and should be considered in a bundle without highlighting its individual components. Therefore, these issues will be considered exclusively in the general context of a comprehensive, package approach to resolving the problem of security guarantees, based on the fundamental elements of the Russian initiative.

The section "Post-START Treaty" and "security equation" are devoted to the issue of a new strategic offensive arms treaty. The Russian side states that the United States focuses exclusively on nuclear weapons, regardless of the ability of certain military means to pose a direct threat to the national territory of the other side.

This position contradicts the understanding reached at the Russian-American summit on June 16, 2021 in Geneva regarding the integrated nature of the strategic dialogue. To resolve this issue, Russia proposes to work out a new "security equation" jointly within the framework of the concept of the draft treaty on security guarantees of December 17, 2021.

The section with the name "Deployment of nuclear weapons outside the national territory" indicates that the United States did not respond to such an element of the "package" of measures as the withdrawal of nuclear weapons deployed outside its borders to the national territory and refusal to further deploy them outside the national territory. The United States, in violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, places its nuclear weapons on the territory of some non-nuclear NATO states. Russia believes that without eliminating this irritant, it is impossible to discuss the topic of non-strategic nuclear weapons.

On the issue of "Medium- and shorter-range ground-based missiles", the Russian side believes that this category of weapons is a necessary component of the new "security equation" that Russia and the United States will jointly develop. Russia sees the issue of reducing the risks of manoeuvres of "Heavy bombers and surface warships" as a subject for discussion and the potential for mutually acceptable agreements.

The last section is dedicated to "Military exercises and manoeuvres", which states that the United States ignores Russia's proposal not to carry out military activities on the territory of states that were previously part of the Soviet Union. To discuss reducing military tensions, the United States and its allies should abandon the policy of "containing" Russia and take concrete practical measures to de-escalate the military-political situation.

With regard to the prevention of incidents on the high seas and in air space, Russia welcomes the readiness of the United States for appropriate consultations. However, this work cannot replace the resolution of the key problems posed by Russia, as indicated in the document.

Thus, one of the forecasts that was made in the material RUSSTRAT "Russia has already split the united front of Western countries" has already been confirmed, the Russian Foreign Ministry has indeed prepared a detailed, legally verified document outlining the norms of international law violated by the West in ignoring Russia's interests.

However, as we can see, the "door for diplomacy" is left open, and Russia suggests that the United States work out a new "security equation" taking into account the basic security elements prepared by the Russian side.

At the same time, as indicated in the material RUSSTRAT "Russia passes the point of no return", the US’ position voiced by the head of the State Department is that with its security proposals, Russia wants to violate the rules established by the West after the Cold War and provoke a global crisis, which can lead to disastrous results.

Antony Blinken spoke in the same vein at the UN Security Council meeting on February 17: "The stakes go far beyond Ukraine. This is a moment of peril for the lives and safety of millions of people, as well as for the foundation of the United Nations Charter and the rules-based international order that preserves stability worldwide.  This crisis directly affects every member of this council and every country in the world. Because the basic principles that sustain peace and security – principles that were enshrined in the wake of two world wars and a Cold War – are under threat.”

Anthony Blinken repeated these theses at the Munich Security Conference. During her speech at this conference, US Vice President Kamala Harris did not even mention the possibility of reaching an agreement with Russia on security issues, in her opinion, the only guarantor of security is NATO. Based on these messages, we can conclude that the United States cannot meet Russia halfway, as this will destroy the remnants of its own dominance in the world.

If the United States really had the good will to establish relations with Russia, the easiest way would be to do this in the field of the functioning of our diplomatic departments. However, for 6 years, from the moment when the buildings belonging to the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States were confiscated under US President Obama, the situation has only worsened.

On January 30, at the request of the United States, 27 Russian diplomats went home. The US is even threatening to expel Russian Ambassador Antonov and ignoring Russia's proposals to reset all accumulated restrictions on diplomatic missions.

On February 17, Russia expelled US Deputy Ambassador Bart Gorman from Moscow, who was expelled from the country in response to the unjustified expulsion of an adviser-envoy of the Russian embassy in Washington. US Embassy spokesman Jason Rebholz said: "We consider Russia's actions against the deputy head of the diplomatic mission to be an escalating step and are considering the possibility of a response."

Accordingly, at the moment, Russian-American relations are only deteriorating. Given the situation in Ukraine and the fact that the US president continues to incite information hysteria about a possible "Russian attack", Russian President Vladimir Putin will really have to make decisions about a military-technical response, based on the proposals of Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, in order to independently form the contours of Russia's security.