MOSCOW, Feb 11 - RIA Novosti. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, during a meeting with his British counterpart Ben Wallace in Moscow, suggested that Western countries contribute to reducing tensions in Europe and stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.
"It is coming from all sides, it is being done publicly. This is done significantly. It's not entirely clear why. I would also like to understand why Britain, the kingdom, sent its special forces to Ukraine, and for how long it will be there," Shoigu said.
The minister cited the situation in Afghanistan as an example, when the country was pumped with weapons, which after the withdrawal of the Western military fell into the hands of terrorists.
In turn, the head of the British defense department said that he had listened to the assurances of the Russian military about the absence of plans to invade Ukraine, and he takes them seriously.
According to Shoigu, the military-political situation on the European continent has significantly worsened, and this requires urgent measures to ensure security guarantees for Moscow.
"The Russian Defense Minister briefly commented on the responses received from the United States and NATO on Russian draft agreements on this issue. He focused on the lack of answers to the key demands of the Russian Federation: the refusal to expand NATO, the non-deployment of strike weapons near the Russian borders, as well as the return of the military capabilities and infrastructure of the bloc in Europe to the position of 1997, when the Founding Act of Russia-NATO was signed. He pointed out that it is impossible to reduce military-political tensions and build a solid euro-security architecture without solving these issues," the message says.
At the same time, the parties noted the importance of continuing contacts on the prevention of incidents and reducing the risks of unintended conflicts. Shoigu "stressed that the Russian Defense Ministry is ready to consider proposals to restore bilateral cooperation on the military line.
"This is our first meeting in recent years. Unfortunately, the level of our cooperation is close to zero and is about to cross the zero meridian and go into the negative, which I really would not like. Therefore, I very much hope for the opportunity to discuss with you the most pressing issues without any escalation and raising the temperature even higher in relations between Russia and the countries of the NATO bloc, and especially with the UK," the minister said.
He noted that recently threats of sanctions have appeared in the speeches of British officials through the line, and he would not like this meeting to become a continuation of such rhetoric.
