(NewsNation Now) — United States and Russian officials are speaking again this week as they work toward finding a diplomatic solution amid soaring tensions over Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a press conference Tuesday, accused the U.S and NATO of ignoring Russia’s top security demands. What Russia wants is a ban on Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Alliance and for the U.S. to pull forces out of Eastern Europe.
The U.S. has refused those requests because of NATO’s open-door policy and also because Russia has amassed more than 100,000 of its own troops on the Ukrainian border. Reports say Russia is sending supplies, including blood and medical supplies, to those troops.
The Pentagon has not confirmed these reports, however.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden formally approved additional U.S. military troop deployments to Eastern Europe, directing more than 3,000 American troops to bolster the defense of European allies in the region.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov have still been in talks, and even Putin on Tuesday said he believes there could be a diplomatic solution, though he doesn’t want to talk yet about what that solution could be.
If Moscow does step back from the brink in Ukraine, the U.S would be willing to enter into an agreement with Russia to ease tensions over missile deployments in Europe, a leaked document published in a Spanish newspaper reported.
The U.S State Department declined to comment on them to the Associated Press and NATO said it never comments on “alleged leaks.”
But, as the AP pointed out, these documents reflect statements NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made to the media last week.
“El Pais” published two documents allegedly written by the U.S. and NATO replying to Russia’s proposals for a new security arrangement in Europe. In one document, it said the U.S. would be willing to discuss with its NATO partners a “transparency mechanism to confirm the absences of Tomahawk cruise missiles at Aegis Ashore sites in Romania and Poland.”
This would only happen if Russia “offers reciprocal transparency measures on two ground-launched missiles bases of our choosing in Russia.”