Putin demands NATO return to 1997 state
According to the document, the Russian president also wants France and the United Kingdom to rule out the possibility of using their nuclear weapons to defend other European countries.
Vladimir Putin. Photo: Contributor / Getty Images
Russia has returned to the demands it put forward in December 2021, two months before the invasion, The New York Times reports. It is now making them a condition for a peace deal.
Journalists obtained an unofficial document from one of the participants in the negotiations.
Among Russia's demands is the withdrawal of NATO troops and bases to 1997 positions, meaning before the alliance's expansion. This would particularly weaken Poland and the Baltic states.
Russia also wants to halt NATO expansion and any of its military activity in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Putin, according to the document, wants France and the United Kingdom to rule out the possibility of using their nuclear weapons to defend other European countries.
The demands also include a complete halt to Western arms supplies to Ukraine. Allowing Ukraine to join the EU is proposed only on the condition that it does not participate in a common defense policy.