Moscow (National Times)- President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the West of ignoring Moscow\u2019s security concerns and of using Ukraine as a tool to contain Russia, though he said he hoped a solution could be found to end spiralling tensions.<\/p>\n
Putin said the Kremlin was studying a response from Washington and NATO to Moscow\u2019s security demands, but that it had been far from adequate.<\/p>\n
They were his first public remarks for weeks on the crisis which has been fuelled by fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is already clear that fundamental Russian concerns ended up being ignored,\u201d Putin told reporters after talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow.<\/p>\n
Putin repeated Russia\u2019s demands for legally binding security guarantees against further NATO expansion and the deployment of strike facilities near Russia\u2019s borders, as well as for NATO\u2019s return to military positions from before 1997.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to me that the United States is not so much concerned about the security of Ukraine. The main task is to contain Russia\u2019s development,\u201d Putin said, calling Ukraine \u201ca tool to reach this goal\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that in the end we will find a solution, although it will not be simple,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n
Tensions between Russia and the West have reached levels not seen since the end of the Cold War after Moscow massed more than 100,000 troops near its borders with Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Western leaders have accused Moscow of preparing an invasion of its pro-Western neighbour and warned of severe consequences if it invades.<\/p>\n
Russia insists it has no plans to attack and has instead put forward its own proposals it says would ease tensions.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged Russia to \u201cimmediately\u201d de-escalate tensions and withdraw its troops in a call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.<\/p>\n
Lavrov said Washington had agreed in the call to further discussions on Moscow\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s see how things go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was meanwhile in Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is vital that Russia steps back and chooses a path of diplomacy, and I believe that is still possible,\u201d Johnson said at a press conference with Zelensky after the talks, calling Russian forces a \u201cclear and present danger\u201d for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
After his meeting with Putin in Moscow, Orban also suggested a solution was possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation is serious, the differences are substantial,\u201d Orban told the press conference with Putin. \u201cBut the existing differences in positions are bridgeable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Orban, one of Putin\u2019s few allies among NATO and EU leaders, made the trip to Moscow in defiance of opposition parties who said it went against the country\u2019s national interests.<\/p>\n
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi also urged \u201ca de-escalation of tensions\u201d in a call with Putin on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Putin said that French President Emmanuel Macron – who spoke to the Russian leader for the second time in four days on Monday – could come to Moscow for talks \u201cin the near future\u201d.<\/p>\n
Western leaders have repeatedly warned of \u201csevere consequences\u201d if Russia does invade, including wide-ranging and damaging economic sanctions.<\/p>\n
Britain and the United States said Monday they were looking at targeting people in Putin\u2019s inner circle, including powerful business allies.<\/p>\n
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told parliament that the government was putting through \u201cthe toughest sanctions regime against Russia we\u2019ve ever had\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose in and around the Kremlin will have nowhere to hide,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The United States and Britain have been at the forefront in warning of an invasion and have sent new shipments of weapons to shore up the Ukrainian military.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said Kyiv was enjoying its biggest diplomatic and military support since Russia\u2019s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is coming to us. It is very important,\u201d Zelensky told parliament.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian leader announced plans to add 100,000 personnel to the armed forces over three years and end conscription, as Kyiv looks to professionalise its forces.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s military has been transformed with Western support over the past eight years, from a threadbare outfit that relied on volunteer fighters to a battle-hardened force.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has been battling Moscow-backed insurgencies in two separatist regions since 2014, with more than 13,000 people killed in the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moscow (National Times)- President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the West of ignoring Moscow\u2019s security concerns and of using Ukraine as a tool to contain Russia, though he said he hoped a solution could be found to end spiralling tensions. Putin said the Kremlin was studying a response from Washington and NATO to Moscow\u2019s security […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n