A senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that Moscow could conclude non-aggression pacts with NATO member states as part of a new security architecture for Europe being discussed as part of the Ukraine peace process.
Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s chief negotiator at those Ukraine peace talks – which resumed this week for the first time since February – said on Wednesday that the idea of a new security framework for Europe had been the central theme of two days of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, but did not provide details of what had been discussed.
Alexey Drobinin, a senior diplomat at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, on Wednesday outlined a series of detailed proposals on the idea to a security conference in Moscow.
The first option he set out was that of a collective defensive alliance or of bilateral mutual assistance agreements like those Russia has with Belarus and North Korea.
The second possibility he cited included political agreements not to help each other’s adversaries in the event of aggression, like the pact Moscow has with Iran.
And the third option he presented were bilateral mutual non-aggression pacts.
“For example, agreements of this kind could be reached, among other things, with individual NATO member states, which would then receive, for instance, additional individual security guarantees from the Russian Federation,” Drobinin told the conference, according to video of his speech posted online.
Some European politicians oppose any discussion of Europe’s overall security architecture, saying progress on Ukraine – including a ceasefire – must be agreed first, although US officials have made clear they are open to such discussion.