NATO, RUSSIA EYE MORE TALKS AS DIFFERENCES OVER UKRAINE ''WILL NOT BE EASY TO BRIDGE''
Jan 12, 2022
By Bob Komsic
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Washington and NATO have rejected key security demands from Russia as tensions simmer over neighbour Ukraine.
After four hours of talks, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Russia government officials left open the possibility of more discussions about arms control, missile deployments and ways to prevent military incidents.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says Moscow asked for time to get back with an answer on that.
However he adds the allies would not allow Moscow to dictate security arrangements.
”There is a real risk for new armed conflict in Europe,” according to Stoltenberg.
”There are significant differences between NATO allies and Russia. Our differences will not be easy to bridge, but it is a positive sign that all NATO allies and Russia sat down around the same table and engaged on substantive topics.”
Russia denies planning to invade Ukraine but says it wants guarantees for its own security, including no further NATO expansion and a withdrawal of alliance forces from central and eastern European countries that joined it after the Cold War.