Russia demands that NATO return to the 1997 borders and stop military support for Ukraine. The New York Times.
Moscow insists once again on examining the entire European security system according to the model of the Cold War. As the New York Times reports, Russian representatives circulated a document at the closed talks in Abu Dhabi outlining the Kremlin's terms for the post-war system in Europe. The document is dated November 10, its authenticity confirmed by two sources to the publication. Among the main demands are NATO's refusal of further expansion, the cessation of all military activity of the alliance in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the withdrawal of forces and the closing of bases in countries that joined NATO after 1997. In fact, it is about reducing the alliance's military presence in Poland and the Baltic states.
Moscow also demands a complete cessation of Western arms supplies to Ukraine and allows Ukraine to join the European Union only on the condition that it refuses to participate in the Union's common defense policy. A new point was the demand that France and Great Britain abandon the use of nuclear weapons to protect other European countries. According to the NYT, Russian negotiators directly called the Cold War model, with the division of Europe into spheres of influence of the Soviet Union and the United States, an example of the future order. Most of the demands repeat Moscow's proposals from December 2021, which were then rejected by the West. The current document reflects the Kremlin's initial position, and according to the publication's sources, Putin allows the possibility of concessions. American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in turn, called on Moscow to present new proposals that set out concrete steps by Russia to reduce tensions.
Earlier it became known that the representatives of the European Union should join the next round of negotiations.