Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of attempting to drag his country into war and ignoring its security concerns regarding Ukraine. In his first direct remarks about the crisis on Tuesday, nearly six weeks later, Putin showed no sign of retreating from the security demands that the West deems impossible, although he expressed readiness for dialogue.
Notably, Putin fears Ukraine's accession to NATO and attempts to restore the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. He stated, "Let’s imagine that Ukraine is a member of NATO... Are we supposed to go to war with the alliance? Did anyone think about that? It seems no one did..."
Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, while European countries fear that Russia plans to invade Ukraine. However, Russia denies this and claims it may engage in unspecified military action unless its security demands are met. Western countries have threatened to impose sanctions on Moscow if it attacks Ukraine.
At the conclusion of talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Kremlin on Tuesday, Putin said that Moscow is still awaiting responses from Washington and NATO to its proposals for security guarantees and that it has become clear to Russia that the West is ignoring its concerns in this regard. He confirmed that Moscow has not received a suitable response from Washington and Brussels to Russia's three core demands: to prevent NATO's eastward expansion, to refrain from deploying offensive weapons near Russia's borders, and to return the military structure of the alliance in Europe to the lines of 1997.
Putin added in this context: "They promised us that NATO would not advance an inch to the east, but they deceived us and acted differently." He stated, "There must be a way to ensure the interests and security of all parties, namely Ukraine, European countries, and Russia, but this can only be done if there is serious engagement and consideration of the proposals we have made" for security guarantees.
Meanwhile, reports from Ukrainian intelligence agencies indicated active resistance in the event of a Russian invasion, particularly in Kharkiv, which is only 40 kilometers from the tens of thousands of Russian troops amassed at the Ukrainian border.
