The United States and NATO should heed Russian security suggestions, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said, adding that NATO's eastward expansion poses a threat to Russian national security
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2022) The United States and NATO should heed Russian security suggestions, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said, adding that NATO's eastward expansion poses a threat to Russian national security.
"We call on the United States and NATO to seriously and realistically heed the well-founded demands for security guarantees by the Russian Federation, which has the right to defend itself," the ministry said in a statement published late at night on Tuesday.
US efforts to push NATO expansion toward Russian borders are a threat to the national security of the country and to regional and international peace, the statement added.
"The government of the United States has been for weeks threatening Russia and manipulating the international community about the risks of an 'imminent massive invasion' of Ukraine. It has supplied weapons and military technology, it has deployed troops in several countries of the region, it has applied unilateral and unjust sanctions and threatened to apply other reprisals. At the same time, it launched an anti-Russia media campaign," the statement read.
According to the statement, Cuba calls for a diplomatic solution through constructive dialogue and for the preservation of international peace and security.
Russia published its security suggestions for NATO and the United States in late 2021 as tensions rose around Ukraine. Moscow specifically requested guarantees that the alliance would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia, to which Washington replied by insisting it will not allow anyone to slam NATO's open-door policy shut.
The US and NATO have since submitted their responses to the proposals but asked Moscow to keep them confidential. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West has ignored Russia's fundamental concerns and demands, including over the alliance's expansion.
