THE GUARDIAN: Russian president’s first public comments on response to Moscow’s proposals come in readout of phone call with Macron
Vladimir Putin said the US and its Nato allies had ignored Russia’s main security concerns, but promised to continue talks with the west, in a call with Emmanuel Macron amid simmering tensions over possible war in Ukraine.
In his first public comments on US and Nato responses to Russian proposals to rewrite the post-cold war security architecture, Putin said Moscow’s concerns about the expansion of Nato and the deployment of strike weapons near its borders had not been taken into account, according to a Kremlin readout of the phone call with his French counterpart.
Macron told Putin that Russia had to respect the sovereignty of states, according to the Élysée. Putin agreed to continue talks, so there was a feeling that “things have moved”, a French presidency official said. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels, Kim Willsher in Paris and Luke Harding in Kyiv | Friday, January 28, 2022
Russia Is Positioned to Invade All of Ukraine, U.S. Says, but Kyiv Downplays War Talk: The Russian military buildup around Ukraine is unlike anything since “the Cold War days” said Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. »
