Russia demands that NATO not cooperate with post-Soviet countries.
On the first day of the tripartite talks in Abu Dhabi on ending the war in Ukraine, the Russian delegation demanded a number of restrictions on NATO. Moscow's stated points include ending further expansion of the alliance, reducing its military presence in countries that joined after 1997, and reducing the bloc's military cooperation with Ukraine and other post-Soviet states, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing participants in the talks.
The Kremlin delegation, led by the assistant to the Russian president Vladimir Medinsky, explained its demands as "security guarantees" for Russia. According to Moscow, the proposals at hand concern the European security architecture that Vladimir Putin tried to promote in a dialogue with the 46th US President, Joe Biden, back in the winter of 2022.