Today, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, after weeks of silence on the subject, made a measured public statement, calling out the U.S. and NATO for deliberately ignoring Russia’s clearly expressed fundamental security concerns. After his meeting with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin informed the media: “Let me note that we are closely analyzing the written responses received from the U.S. and NATO on January 26. However, it is already clear, and I informed Mr. Prime Minister [Orban] about it, that the fundamental Russian concerns were ignored.”
The three fundamental concerns are to stop the eastern expansion of NATO; to prevent offensive weapons near Russian borders; and to return to the military infrastructure of the 1997 agreements. However, Washington focuses upon the right to choose security alliances, while disregarding another key principle: “The second inalienable part says that no one should be allowed to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of the other states.”