On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry informed that at a meeting in Moscow with his British counterpart Ben Wallace, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the most pressing issues of European security and cooperation between the military departments of the two countries.
It is reported that Shoigu stated that the military-political situation in Europe has significantly worsened due to the escalation of tensions around Ukraine and the NATO military presence near the borders of the Russian Federation, which requires urgent measures to ensure security guarantees for the Russian Federation. "The Russian Defense Minister briefly commented on the responses received from the United States and NATO on Russian draft agreements on this issue," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Shoigu, in particular, focused on the lack of answers to Moscow's key demands. Namely, the refusal to expand NATO, the non-deployment of strike weapons near the Russian borders and the return of the military capabilities and infrastructure of the bloc in Europe to the position of 1997, when the Russia-NATO Founding Act was signed. The Russian Defense Minister stressed that it is impossible to reduce military-political tensions and build a solid Euro-security architecture without addressing these issues.
"The sides noted the importance of continuing contacts on the prevention of incidents and reducing the risks of unintended conflicts during military activities," our military department said in a statement. They added: Sergei Shoigu expressed the readiness of the Russian Defense Ministry to consider proposals to restore bilateral cooperation on the military line. "An understanding has been reached on the continuation of contacts between the defense departments," the ministry said.
Yuri Gavrilov
