US, NATO deliver counteroffers to Russia on defusing Ukraine war prospects

WASHINGTON – U.S. and NATO officials have separately delivered new sets of proposals to the Russian government for sorting out security concerns in Europe, while rejecting Russia’s demand that the alliance forever close its door to Ukraine.

The diplomatic overture is the latest in a dramatic standoff that has summoned the kind of war clouds over the continent not seen for decades. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking from Washington and Brussels, respectively, described their written responses to Moscow as a test of whether President Vladimir Putin is seriously interested in a diplomatic solution.

Russia has encircled Ukraine with more than 100,000 troops along the border, and new, combat-ready forces continue to stream into Russian ally Belarus, which also borders Ukraine and NATO member Poland, said Stoltenberg.

Washington’s missive, delivered by the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, is a rebuke to Russian demands for a sphere of influence in which its neighbors would be forced to forswear a future aligned with the West. Also off the table for Washington are Russian requests that NATO remove its troops and equipment from its eastern alliance members Romania and Bulgaria.

The U.S. government has instead offered “transparency measures regarding force posture in Ukraine,” Blinken told reporters on Wednesday. In addition, U.S. and NATO officials proposed new rules for all sides on transparency in military exercises, including closing a loophole that excludes snap exercises from existing reporting requirements, Stoltenberg said.

Washington and Brussels are also offering new talks on arms control, nuclear weapons reduction, rules for intermediate-range missiles in the wider European theater, and a reinvigoration of the NATO-Russia Council.

Blinken said he expects to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the coming days to discuss the proposals. Stoltenberg told reporters he envisions a “series of meetings” of the NATO-Russia Council on disarmament and military-exercise transparency. He also called on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, where they are deployed without those governments’ consent.

As described, the Western responses — Blinken said Washington’s letter won’t be made public — amount to an amalgamation of what leaders have been telegraphing for weeks. What’s new is a pronounced focus on new talks and new channels of communication in an apparent effort to preempt Russia from arguing the United States and NATO failed to exhaust diplomacy first.

As for increased transparency in military drills, Russia has previously shied away from such measures, instead using ambiguity about exercise objectives to keep NATO guessing. Moscow also has shown little interest in the past to engage in the NATO-Russia Council format.

Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.

华盛顿——美国和北约官员分别向俄罗斯政府提交了一系列新的提案，旨在解决欧洲的安全问题，同时拒绝了俄罗斯要求北约永远对乌克兰关闭大门的请求。

此次外交斡旋是这场戏剧性对峙的最新进展，这场对峙已在欧洲大陆上空掀起了数十年来前所未有的战争阴云。美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯和北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格分别在华盛顿和布鲁塞尔发表讲话，称他们向莫斯科提交的书面答复是对俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京是否真心希望通过外交途径解决问题的一次考验。

斯托尔滕贝格表示，俄罗斯已在边境沿线部署了超过 10 万名士兵包围了乌克兰，而且新的、随时可以作战的部队仍在源源不断地涌入俄罗斯的盟友白俄罗斯，白俄罗斯也与乌克兰和北约成员国波兰接壤。

美国驻莫斯科大使向华盛顿发出的这份信函，是对俄罗斯要求建立势力范围的驳斥。俄罗斯要求在其势力范围内，邻国将被迫放弃与西方结盟的未来。此外，华盛顿也拒绝了俄罗斯要求北约从其东部盟国罗马尼亚和保加利亚撤军的要求。

布林肯周三告诉记者，美国政府转而提出了“关于在乌克兰兵力部署的透明措施”。斯托尔滕贝格表示，此外，美国和北约官员还提议各方就军事演习的透明度制定新规则，包括堵住现有报告要求中将突击演习排除在外的漏洞。

华盛顿和布鲁塞尔还提出就军备控制、核武器削减、更广泛的欧洲战区中程导弹规则以及重振北约-俄罗斯理事会等问题展开新的谈判。

布林肯表示，他预计将在未来几天与俄罗斯外长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫会面，讨论这些提议。斯托尔滕贝格告诉记者，他设想北约-俄罗斯裁军和军事演习透明度理事会将举行“一系列会议”。他还呼吁俄罗斯从乌克兰、格鲁吉亚和摩尔多瓦撤军，这些军队未经这些国家政府同意就部署在这些国家。

正如前文所述，西方的回应——布林肯表示华盛顿的信函不会公开——实际上是各国领导人数周以来一直在传递的信息的综合。新的变化在于，西方明显更加重视新的会谈和新的沟通渠道，显然是为了先发制人，防止俄罗斯指责美国和北约没有首先穷尽外交手段。

至于提高军事演习透明度，俄罗斯此前一直回避此类措施，而是通过模糊演习目标来迷惑北约。莫斯科过去也鲜少表现出参与北约-俄罗斯理事会机制的兴趣。

塞巴斯蒂安·斯普伦格是《防务新闻》欧洲版副主编，负责报道该地区的防务市场状况，以及美欧在防务和全球安全领域的合作和多国投资。此前，他曾担任《防务新闻》执行主编。他现居德国科隆。