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Putin tells Johnson Nato unwilling to address Russia’s concerns, says Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with members of the Security Council via teleconference call, in Moscow February 2, 2022. — Sputnik handout pic via AFP
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MOSCOW, Feb 3 — Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday discussed the Ukraine crisis and “long-term” security guarantees for Moscow in a phone call as tensions soar between Russia and the West.
“The unwillingness of Nato to adequately respond to the well-founded Russian concerns was noted,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin said Nato was “hiding behind” its open-door policy that “contradicts the fundamental principle of the indivisibility of security”, the statement said.
It added that Putin accused Ukraine of the “chronic sabotage” of the Minsk peace agreements signed in 2015 between Kyiv and pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Since the start of the conflict, which has left 13,000 dead, the West has accused Russia of supplying military and financial help to the separatists, charges that Moscow rejects.
Tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine have been building for weeks, with the West accusing Moscow of preparing an imminent invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
Russia denies any plans to invade but is demanding that Ukraine never be allowed to join Nato and a series of other security guarantees against the US-led military alliance’s expansion in the ex-Soviet bloc. — AFP