Zürcher Nachrichten - Putin says West ignoring Russia's security concerns

EUR -
AED 4.322512
AFN 81.008431
ALL 97.610159
AMD 449.741076
ANG 2.106185
AOA 1079.159835
ARS 1481.251332
AUD 1.778449
AWG 2.12125
AZN 2.003676
BAM 1.956004
BBD 2.367977
BDT 142.954879
BGN 1.954562
BHD 0.44362
BIF 3495.323193
BMD 1.176837
BND 1.498369
BOB 8.103878
BRL 6.492024
BSD 1.172722
BTN 101.327116
BWP 15.651629
BYN 3.838111
BYR 23066.014699
BZD 2.355775
CAD 1.600893
CDF 3396.35309
CHF 0.932803
CLF 0.028445
CLP 1115.888998
CNY 8.426868
CNH 8.413905
COP 4754.423438
CRC 592.461663
CUC 1.176837
CUP 31.186193
CVE 110.275072
CZK 24.585343
DJF 208.621713
DKK 7.463645
DOP 70.987388
DZD 152.555099
EGP 57.771804
ERN 17.652562
ETB 160.238378
FJD 2.628111
FKP 0.870508
GBP 0.867253
GEL 3.189247
GGP 0.870508
GHS 12.255119
GIP 0.870508
GMD 84.732712
GNF 10175.059015
GTQ 9.000899
GYD 245.223439
HKD 9.237621
HNL 30.708196
HRK 7.532461
HTG 153.884709
HUF 398.525381
IDR 19160.091087
ILS 3.920552
IMP 0.870508
INR 101.5862
IQD 1536.259893
IRR 49559.564856
ISK 142.209258
JEP 0.870508
JMD 188.119579
JOD 0.834323
JPY 171.969496
KES 151.462488
KGS 102.823942
KHR 4700.449279
KMF 494.85638
KPW 1059.21497
KRW 1609.28981
KWD 0.358947
KYD 0.977293
KZT 631.140326
LAK 25280.631195
LBP 105081.740809
LKR 353.806824
LRD 235.133474
LSL 20.593843
LTL 3.474895
LVL 0.711857
LYD 6.34166
MAD 10.546843
MDL 19.831064
MGA 5180.539188
MKD 61.566669
MMK 2470.300458
MNT 4220.581008
MOP 9.481487
MRU 46.545844
MUR 53.240152
MVR 18.118785
MWK 2033.511647
MXN 21.828101
MYR 4.963309
MZN 75.27023
NAD 20.593668
NGN 1794.147061
NIO 43.154491
NOK 11.895829
NPR 162.123874
NZD 1.944394
OMR 0.452496
PAB 1.172727
PEN 4.180135
PGK 4.929513
PHP 66.643719
PKR 333.873949
PLN 4.25242
PYG 8784.399462
QAR 4.27529
RON 5.072876
RSD 117.135316
RUB 92.264883
RWF 1695.176433
SAR 4.414972
SBD 9.750211
SCR 17.021093
SDG 706.681753
SEK 11.192713
SGD 1.501368
SHP 0.924809
SLE 27.008153
SLL 24677.698279
SOS 670.169751
SRD 42.892196
STD 24358.159906
STN 24.50255
SVC 10.261068
SYP 15301.194295
SZL 20.584142
THB 37.932992
TJS 11.252223
TMT 4.1307
TND 3.423613
TOP 2.756275
TRY 47.636612
TTD 7.958761
TWD 34.451933
TZS 3065.661464
UAH 49.037504
UGX 4210.402439
USD 1.176837
UYU 47.144706
UZS 14898.550633
VES 141.542248
VND 30766.650779
VUV 141.29205
WST 3.102248
XAF 656.025279
XAG 0.030177
XAU 0.000349
XCD 3.180462
XCG 2.11352
XDR 0.815885
XOF 656.025279
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.55937
ZAR 20.653556
ZMK 10592.964164
ZMW 27.238339
ZWL 378.94119
  • RYCEF

    0.2000

    13.5

    +1.48%

  • CMSC

    -0.0400

    22.43

    -0.18%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.21

    0%

  • BCC

    1.2000

    88.35

    +1.36%

  • GSK

    1.0100

    38.03

    +2.66%

  • SCS

    0.2100

    10.68

    +1.97%

  • RELX

    0.4100

    53.09

    +0.77%

  • NGG

    -1.6300

    72.65

    -2.24%

  • RBGPF

    0.9700

    68

    +1.43%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    11.3

    -0.18%

  • RIO

    0.2900

    64.62

    +0.45%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    52.37

    +0.29%

  • CMSD

    -0.0300

    22.89

    -0.13%

  • AZN

    2.5200

    73

    +3.45%

  • BCE

    0.2200

    24.6

    +0.89%

  • BP

    0.1900

    32.71

    +0.58%

Putin says West ignoring Russia's security concerns
Putin says West ignoring Russia's security concerns

Putin says West ignoring Russia's security concerns

President Vladimir Putin told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday that the West was ignoring Moscow's security concerns over Ukraine but added that Russia would hold off from taking action immediately.

Text size:

Putin and Macron spoke by phone amid deep fears that a Russian troop build-up on the Ukrainian border is a precursor to a Russian invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.

Russia denies any plans to invade but has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees from the West, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Macron held a "long telephone conversation" and that Putin expressed his dissatisfaction with a US response to Moscow's demands that was delivered earlier this week.

"The US and NATO responses did not take into account Russia's fundamental concerns including preventing NATO's expansion and refusing to deploy strike weapons systems near Russia's borders," Putin told Macron, according to a readout of the call from the Kremlin.

"The key question was also ignored," Putin said, pointing to the "principle of the indivisibility of security" in international affairs, that no country should strengthen its security at the expense of others.

He said Russia would "carefully study" the responses "after which it will decide on further actions".

Russia has deployed some 100,000 troops on Ukraine's borders in recent weeks, prompting warnings from the West of severe consequences should it invade its pro-Western neighbour.

- 'Ball in Putin's court' -

Macron had announced earlier this week he would hold the telephone talks with Putin in the spirit of a "demanding dialogue" with Russia for clarification over Moscow's intentions on Ukraine.

"Now the ball is in Putin's court," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio Friday.

"It's up to Vladimir Putin to say if he wants confrontation or consultation. We are ready for consultation. But it still takes two to do it," he said.

The Elysee on Wednesday hailed as a "positive signal" talks in Paris between Russia and Ukraine -- as well as France and Germany -- which produced the first joint written statement on the conflict in eastern Ukraine signed up to by Moscow and Kyiv since 2019.

They agreed to preserve a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine -- where pro-Moscow separatists declared breakaway regions -- and to hold new talks in Berlin in February.

Putin on Friday told Macron it was important for Ukrainian authorities to establish "direct dialogue" with separatist leaders.

"Taking into account the results of the meeting" in Paris, the Kremlin said, "the mood for further work of Russia and France in this format was confirmed."

Russia's demands, delivered last month, include the ban on NATO membership for Ukraine but also a pullback of NATO forces deployed to Eastern European and ex-Soviet countries that joined the alliance after the Cold War.

Washington on Wednesday delivered a reply in coordination with NATO allies, saying Ukraine had the right to determine its own allies but offering Russia talks on missile placements and other mutual concerns.

- Threat to key pipeline -

The West also stepped up its threats of possible action in response to an invasion, with the United States and Germany warning that a major gas pipeline was at stake.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Germany has defiantly built despite criticism by the United States and Eastern Europeans, will more than double supplies of Russian natural gas to Europe's largest economy.

US President Joe Biden spoke Thursday by telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said the United States was considering economic support after $650 million in military assistance over the past year.

Biden "reaffirmed the readiness of the United States along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine," a White House statement said.

Zelensky was due later Friday to give a major press conference on the crisis.

Ukrainian officials have been less aggressive than Washington in saying an invasion is imminent, but have welcomed Western shows of support.

NATO has put 8,500 troops on standby over the Ukraine crisis, in scenes reminiscent of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and Western countries have stepped up shipments of military aid to the country.

In the western region of Lviv on Friday Ukrainian soldiers were testing NLAW anti-tank systems recently delivered by the British, firing the shoulder-mounted missiles at targets in snow-covered fields.

Russia, which has a fraught historical relationship with Ukraine, has fuelled an insurgency in the former Soviet republic's east that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.

M.J.Baumann--NZN