THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Russian President
customary year-end audience with the Moscow media was more closely watched than usual for signs of what plans he might have in mind for Ukraine, as he again denied seeking a conflict with the West and defended what he called his country’s need to protect itself against NATO’s attempts to encroach on its doorstep.
For months now Russia has been massing tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, worrying leaders in both Kyiv and Western capitals that Mr. Putin was aiming to reprise a military campaign in 2014 when Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
The buildup has led the U.S. and Europe to suggest that Moscow was again planning to invade its smaller neighbor, which is pushing to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Mr. Putin has set Ukraine’s accession to the alliance as a red line for Russia, and on Thursday accused NATO of pursuing successive waves of expansion since the end of the Cold War.
“Further movement of NATO eastward is unacceptable,” Mr. Putin told reporters during an almost four-hour press conference.
“Are we placing missiles near the borders of the United States? No, it is the United States with its missiles that came to our doorstep. They are on the threshold of our house,” he said. “Is it an excessive demand—no more attack weapons systems near our home? Is there something unusual about this?”
With the world watching, Mr. Putin’s remarks appeared calibrated to send to strong message to his domestic audience that Russia wouldn’t be cowed by the West, and to signal to NATO that Russia has no intention of retreating from the border with Ukraine, some political analysts said, while still maintaining room for compromise.
“Judging by the tonality, especially by his very harsh words, this really is an ultimatum,” said Sergei Markov, director of the Institute for Political Studies in Moscow.
That Mr. Putin also kept the door open for negotiation was also significant, said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R. Politik, an independent political consultancy. “He doesn’t want Russia to look like a monster,” she said. “He wants Russia to be understood and he’s seeking for this understanding, some empathy. It’s important for him to sustain the image of Russia as a peaceful country that is ready for dialogue.”
The Kremlin last week presented the U.S. with a set of security guarantees it wants from the West, including a commitment that the organization won’t expand further eastward to include Ukraine. Moscow also wants NATO to abandon military activities, including training and exercises, in Ukraine, Georgia and other areas in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia that were part of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Putin said Thursday that what happens next will depend not only on planned talks with NATO, “but on the unconditional provision of Russia’s security, today and in the future.”
Journalists sought to put questions to the Russian president on Thursday.
Photo:
Alexei Nikolsky/Zuma Press
In impassioned terms, Mr. Putin accused the West of stoking anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine and of brainwashing the population while supplying Kyiv with sophisticated weaponry that could endanger Russia. He said this could encourage radical elements in Ukraine to try to forcibly regain control of parts of the country’s east, now under the authority of pro-Kremlin separatists. They might also be incited to try retake the Crimean Peninsula, Mr. Putin said, which is the home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
The pivotal issue in the worsening dispute is the future of Donbas, the breakaway Russian-speaking eastern region of Ukraine that includes the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, and where more than a million residents hold Russian passports. Mr. Putin said the people who live there should determine their own future and described the Kremlin’s role as that of a mediator.
In a statement published by Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Oleg Nikolenko, denied that Ukraine was preparing a military operation in the country’s east, something that security analysts say could provoke Mr. Putin into action.
Mr. Nikolenko said that Ukraine seeks only peace and is committed to political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the armed conflict, the news agency reported. He called on Russia to focus on implementing the cease-fire agreements and ending the clashes.
“People on both sides of the line of demarcation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions deserve peace and tranquility, especially on the eve of the New Year holidays,” Mr. Nikolenko was cited as saying.
Mr. Putin, meanwhile, urged the West to take swift action in responding to Moscow’s proposals and expressed hope that talks scheduled with the U.S. and NATO early next year would yield constructive results.
“The ball is now in their court. They have to give us some response,” Mr. Putin said, adding that “on the whole, we currently see positive reaction to proposals for talks on security guarantees.”
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed to Moscow to de-escalate its military presence near Ukraine in order to establish a productive setting for the proposed January discussions. Washington is proposing to hold those talks directly with Russia and through parallel discussions that involve NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The White House said earlier that Russia’s proposals were being discussed with the U.S.’s European allies and partners, but the U.S. wouldn’t compromise “the key principles on which European security is built, including that all countries have the right to decide their own future and foreign policy free from outside interference.”
Mr. Putin also fielded questions during Thursday’s press conference on China, whose relationship with Russia he has described as “a model of interstate cooperation in the 21st century.”
During a videoconference last week, the Kremlin leader and his Chinese counterpart, President
Xi Jinping,
agreed to rebuff Western intrusion into their countries’ internal affairs and boost efforts to defend their nations’ security interests, strengthening cooperation as both nations face pressure from the U.S. and Europe.
President Putin accused NATO of aggressively expanding eastward since the end of the Cold War.
Photo:
natalia kolesnikova/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The West has criticized China for its suppression of a largely Muslim minority group and other human-rights abuses, characterizations that Beijing rejects.
The Biden administration said this month it wouldn’t send U.S. officials to attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. Other countries, including Britain and Australia, have followed suit.
On Thursday, Mr. Putin called the diplomatic boycott “a wrong and unacceptable decision,” charging that it was motivated by a desire to stifle China’s economic growth. He urged the U.S. to recognize that it is impossible to curb development of the Asian giant, which he said was on track to become the world’s leading economy.
The Russian leader said Moscow and Beijing had launched joint weapons-development projects and were working on certain types of high-tech weapons together, in addition to cooperating in the fields of security, space and aviation.
—Valentina Ochirova contributed to this article.
Write to Ann M. Simmons at ann.simmons@wsj.com
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