Temporary moratorium on NATO expansion unacceptable for Russia — Deputy Foreign Minister

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. A moratorium on NATO expansion for a limited time span would be unacceptable for Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at the Valdai discussion club session Wednesday. "No, this scenario is unacceptable. We need legally binding guarantees of NATO’s non-expansion in a form of treaties: a bilateral agreement with the US and a multilateral agreement with NATO," he said, answering a question. According to Ryabkov, Russia cannot be satisfied with yet another "trick" like it did before. He underscored that Moscow needs "bulletproof, 100-percent guarantees of NATO’s non-expansion." "We’ve experienced it many times in the past, when such formulas, lucrative on the outside, were quickly forgotten, turned inside out and transformed into their opposite. I would rather not delve in historic references, but all this exists, was documented and published. We cannot be satisfied with yet another trick," he concluded. On December 17, 2021 Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements with the US and NATO on guarantees of security. Russia and the US discussed these issues on January 10 in Geneva, while Russia-NATO Council convened on January 12 in Brussels. On January 13, these initiatives were discussed at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna. Read more