Macron urged to think about guarantees for the Russian Federation in the security architecture of Europe

After the restoration of peace in Ukraine, the future security architecture of Europe should include security guarantees for the Russian Federation, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with TF1.

“We need to think about the security architecture we want to live in tomorrow. In this regard, we will talk, in particular, about the words of President Vladimir Putin that NATO is approaching the borders of Russia, deploying weapons that could threaten it,” said Macron (quote from RIA Novosti).

The French president said it was necessary to think about what could be done to protect the allies and at the same time “provide Russia with guarantees of her security when she returns to the negotiating table.”

Last December, the Russian president said that Moscow would demand legally binding security guarantees from the West. On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements on security guarantees with the US and NATO. The documents included, among other things, the refusal to deploy ground-based medium-range and shorter-range missiles outside NATO territory, as well as the expansion of the military bloc to the east, closer to the Russian borders, to Ukraine and Georgia.

In January, a series of talks between Russia and the United States, NATO and the OSCE took place. The parties exchanged written responses to each other’s proposals, but the talks were suspended in February. Putin said that in their responses the United States and NATO did not take into account the fundamental concerns of Russia.

At the end of June, the State Department announced that the United States understand Russia’s legitimate security concerns and are willing to work to address them. Autumn in the Kremlin reportedthat the desire of Washington to listen to Moscow’s concerns could become a platform for negotiations between the presidents of Russia and the United States.