US - Russia Relations: Vladimir Putin Breaks Silence On Security Concerns Over Ukraine, NATO

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the U.S. and NATO "ignored" Russian security interests in negotiations over Ukraine.

After nearly a month of silence on the status of negotiations, Putin addressed the tension between Russia and the West at a press conference in Moscow after a meeting with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban. By refusing to discuss what he considers Russia’s core concerns, particularly on its demand to halt NATO expansion and retreat to its 1997 borders, Putin accused the U.S. of seeking to “contain” and undermine Russian security.

"It is already clear that Russia's fundamental concerns have been ignored. NATO refers to the right of countries to choose freely, but you can not strengthen someone's security at the expense of others," said Putin.

"We haven't seen adequate consideration of our three key requirements concerning the prevention of NATO expansion, the refusal to deploy strike weapons systems near the Russian borders as well as the return of the military infrastructure [to NATO's 1997 borders],” he said.

Since Washington began detecting signs of Russia’s military build-up along the Ukrainian border last November, Putin has maintained a hardline stance against the U.S. and NATO. He has accused the West of deceiving Russia by expanding NATO and warned of unspecified “military-technical measures” Russia would take if its interests were disregarded.

Amid the negotiations, more Russian forces have been built up along the border with Ukraine and inside neighboring Belarus.

Weeks of negotiation between the West and Russia have failed to produce any serious changes to the status quo. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden have warned that Putin would invite severe sanctions for any invasion of Ukraine, a call supported by several allies along Russia’s western flank and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, some European powers, like Germany, have remained non-committal on its potential response if Russia takes military action.

Russia had previously demanded a written response from the U.S. to its draft proposals to address the ongoing crisis. After the U.S. reply was delivered last week, Moscow immediately made clear its disappointment for not addressing its concerns about NATO.

However, the Russians have yet to issue their reply until it has been fully analyzed by Putin.

Putin acknowledged that he was still open to pursuing a diplomatic course as a way to defuse the brewing crisis. By doing so, he said it would be to “protect everyone’s security.”

“I hope that we will eventually find a solution, although we realize that it’s not going to be easy,” Putin said.