The Rusophobic minority, with the Baltics and Poles at the forefront, is dancing in the EU and NATO / Article

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been accused of accusing Poland and the Baltic states of forming a “Russophobic minority” that is fueling anti-Russian sentiment in these organizations after joining the European Union and NATO.

The United States is calling on Russia to withdraw its forces from the Ukrainian border

The meeting between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Lavrov focused on Ukraine, at the borders of which Russia has gathered about 100,000 troops, and Moscow’s demand for the US to guarantee NATO non-enlargement and a reduction in the Alliance’s presence in post-1997 member states.

The conversation between the Russian and US foreign leaders lasted an hour and a half.

After the meeting, Blinken said that Washington would send a written document to Moscow next week expressing its concern about Russia’s demands. The two sides have agreed on further talks, without ruling out a possible meeting between the presidents of the United States and Russia.

Blinken stressed that the United States does not intend to trade with Russia as “zones of influence” behind the backs of Ukrainians.

“I have made it clear to Minister Lavrov that there are fundamental principles that the United States and our partners are ready to uphold. These include the sovereign right of the Ukrainian people to shape their own future. There can be no trade for that.”

The US Secretary of State urged Russia to confirm Moscow’s statements that no preparations are underway for another invasion of Ukraine.

“I have heard Russian officials say that they have no intention of invading Ukraine. In fact, Mr Lavrov repeated that to me today.

“If Russia wants to convince the world that it has no aggressive intentions against Ukraine, a very good place to start would be to de-escalate by withdrawing these forces, removing them from Ukraine’s border,” Blinken said.

Lavrov blames Polish and Baltic ‘phobias’

Lavrov confirmed that the US side has promised to respond in writing to Russia’s demands.

He also explained why Moscow opposes NATO enlargement.

“It simply came to our notice then. Because this bloc was created to act against the Soviet Union, but now it is working against the Russian Federation. In addition, it is recorded in doctrinal documents. Here is an example. “When Eastern Europeans, first and foremost the Poles and the Baltic States, were pushing for NATO, we warned the West that it would be a mistake not to strengthen NATO ‘s security in any way, but only to increase extremism in those countries,” Lavrov said.

However, we were reassured that the opposite would happen: we would welcome them into NATO, and their Soviet-era phobias would disappear and Russia would gain peaceful and kind neighbors.

But the opposite happened: the Russophobic minority with the Baltic States and Poland is leading the ball not only in NATO but also in the European Union, forcing the stalemate of anti-Russian policy on all issues, ”says Lavrov.

Moscow is also making claims against Bulgaria and Romania

Romania and Bulgaria, meanwhile, have been outraged by Lavrov’s demand for NATO to withdraw Allied forces from both members of the alliance, although Romania and Bulgaria do not border Russia.

Prior to meeting with Blinken, Lavrov announced that Moscow wanted NATO troops to be withdrawn from Romania and Bulgaria.

There are currently around 1,000 US troops, 140 Italian troops and a few dozen Polish troops on a rotating basis in Romania. More than 5,000 American troops have been deployed in Bulgaria.

Romania’s foreign ministry said Russia’s demand was “unacceptable and could not be part of the talks”.

For his part, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov said Bulgaria would decide on its security with its allies and called on Russia to continue a constructive dialogue to ease tensions in the region.

Separatists receive help from Russia

While the West continues its diplomatic efforts to prevent a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia continues to demonstrate military force.

Ukraine’s military counter-intelligence service has announced that Russia is increasing the amount of military equipment and facilities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed forces.

The statement said Russia had delivered large quantities of fuel, several tanks and self-propelled artillery to Donbass this month. Russia is also actively organizing mercenary groups to be sent to eastern Ukraine.

Russia has sent two S-400 missile defense battalions to Belarus for maneuvering in the Khabarovsk region of Russia’s Far East on a daily basis, Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday.

Russia has previously said it has also sent a Pancir missile system and 12 Su-35 fighter jets to Belarus.

A joint exercise of the Belarusian and Russian armed forces was announced this week, which will run in two stages until February 20. They will play a possible attack on the territory of Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine.

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