As the Russian-Western escalation reached its peak last week, following Russian military operations on Ukrainian territory, Moscow reiterated its commitment to dialogue and its desire not to sever relations with Washington. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated on Thursday, according to Interfax, that his country continues to communicate with Washington primarily through embassies.
Regarding negotiations with Ukraine, he believed discussions in Belarus could yield results. As for the military operation in Ukraine, he viewed that it would be fully achieved.
**Warnings to the West**
Alexander Grushko, another Deputy Foreign Minister, also confirmed earlier that Russia does not intend to cut ties with Washington, despite the relations between the two having deteriorated to their lowest levels. He emphasized that his country is ready to continue dialogue with the West on strategic stability. Moreover, he placed the responsibility for the escalation on the West, saying that Russia had previously warned that Ukraine's NATO membership issue was like a ticking time bomb that would "explode sooner or later."
He also expressed concern over the threat of a direct clash between Russian forces and NATO, stating that "everything NATO did after the Cold War ended in disaster" and that every new expansion of NATO has led to a deterioration of the alliance's own security.
**NATO Expansion and Red Lines**
Grushko stressed that Europe must sooner or later realize that the security architecture centered around NATO is a road leading to a dead end, adding that "a new European security structure cannot be considered until the issue of providing security guarantees for Russia is resolved."
It is worth noting that the Russian military operation that began on February 24 was preceded by several months of significant Russian escalation with the West, following Kyiv's insistence on joining NATO, which the Kremlin views as a red line for the security of the country.
Moscow has repeatedly called in recent times for halting NATO's expansion in Eastern Europe and rejecting Ukraine's membership, which NATO has firmly rejected. Russia has also called for security guarantees regarding NATO's military movements in Eastern Europe; however, negotiations between the two sides have yielded no results, especially as Russia continued its military buildup along the border with its western neighbor, before the conflict dramatically erupted a week ago!
