Newsweek
Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to rule out an invasion of Ukraine, stressing he will accept nothing less than “the unconditional security of Russia” in upcoming talks with the U.S. and NATO.
During his annual Q&A press conference on Thursday in Moscow, Putin appeared frustrated by a question from Sky News asking if he would rule out an invasion of Ukraine.
In a lengthy response, the Russian president framed his deployment of 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border as defensive and accused NATO members—particularly the U.S.—of instigating conflict.
“Our actions will depend not on the negotiations, but on the unconditional security of Russia, today and in the future,” Putin said, referring to Russia-U.S.-NATO talks slated for early 2022.
“We have made it absolutely clear that NATO’s expansion to the east is unacceptable,” Putin said. “What’s not clear about it?”
“We are not the ones that deploy missiles next to the United States. It’s the other way around, the United States brought their missiles next to our borders.”
“We are not the ones who are threatening someone, we are not the ones who came to the border of the U.S. or the U.K.; they came to us.” Putin continued. “And now they’re saying, ‘We will have Ukraine as well.'”
“You should come up with guarantees, right now—immediately,” Putin said, addressing the U.S. and its NATO allies.
The Kremlin is demanding guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join the NATO alliance. Kyiv first expressed…
