Russia says lack of NATO security guarantees would lead to confrontation

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has reportedly warned of a potential face-off if Washington and the US-led NATO military alliance fail to give Moscow security guarantees regarding its eastern expansion.

Ryabkov’s remarks on Monday cited by the Moscow-based RIA news agency reiterated an earlier demand by Russian President Vladimir Putin for legally binding security guarantees that NATO will not further expand or deploy weapons closer to its borders.

The remarks coincided with press reports on Monday that the European Union (EU) is discussing with the US and the UK a new round of economic sanctions against Russia.

"We are in deterrent mode," EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell told reporters in Vienna as he arrived for a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers but noted that no decision on the matter is expected on Monday.

"In any case we will send a clear signal that any aggression against Ukraine will have a high cost for Russia... We are studying together with the US and the UK what (sanctions) could be, when and how, in a coordinated manner," he said.

The development came shortly after Rayabkov declared on Friday that the Russian government has witnessed violations of the Montreux Convention by NATO member nations, warning that such actions would be “unacceptable.”

“We do not ignore them (violations) and declare this practice unacceptable through our diplomatic channels,” he emphasized while speaking at an online briefing in Moscow.

“It is not surprising, since those who engaged in this are throwing themselves into the ideology of replacing international law with a rules-based order.”

Ryabkov further noted that the Montreux Convention had contributed to the stability of the Black Sea region for decades, but the Western states ignore this fact and prefer to insist on their rightness instead of being guided by the international law.

ME