President Putin Says West Takes Warning Of Red Line Limits Lightly, Calls Relations With The US Unsatisfactory

Illustration of President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin. (WIkimedia Commons/Official White House Photo/David Lienemann)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Western countries were taking Russia's red line warnings lightly, making Moscow need serious security guarantees.

In a broad foreign policy speech, the Kremlin leader also described relations with the United States as "unsatisfactory" but said Russia remained open to dialogue with Washington.

The Kremlin said in September NATO would step over Russia's red line if it expanded its military infrastructure in Ukraine. Moscow has since accused Ukraine and NATO of destabilizing behavior, including in the Black Sea.

In a televised address, President Putin complained that Western strategic bombers carrying "very serious weapons" flew within 20 km (12.5 miles) of the Russian border.

"We constantly voice our concerns about this, talk about red lines, but we understand our partners, how can I make it more subtle, have a very shallow attitude to all our warnings and talk about red lines," President Putin said. November 19.

President Putin further said that NATO, which last month cut ties with Russia, had destroyed the entire dialogue mechanism.

President Putin told foreign ministry officials Russia needed to seek long-term security guarantees from the West, though he said this would be difficult and did not specify what form of guarantees should take.

Russian-Western relations have been at post-Cold War lows for years, but the tone has sharpened in recent weeks, as Ukraine and NATO countries have raised concerns over Russian troop movements near Ukraine's borders, trying to guess at its true intentions. Moscow.

However, despite the growing list of disputes, the Kremlin has maintained high-level contacts with Washington and has repeatedly spoken of a possible summit between President Putin and US President Joe Biden following up on their initial meeting in Geneva in June, which President Putin said had opened up space. for improvement in bonding.

However, President Putin described Russia's relations with the United States as "unsatisfactory", but said Moscow was open to dialogue.

"Yes, in many bilateral and international questions, our interests, evaluations, positions are indeed different, as everyone knows, sometimes radically," Putin said.

"However, I want to say once again, we are open to contact and exchange of opinions, constructive dialogue," he said.

Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying the two presidents could hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year.

Earlier, Peskov told reporters Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan discussed cybersecurity, Ukraine, and the migrant crisis at the Belarusian border in a phone call on Wednesday.

A Kremlin spokesman said the call was part of preparations for "high-level contacts" between the presidents.