ANKARA —
Turkey urged
Russia on Monday to drop
"one-sided" demands and adopt a more constructive approach in its
standoff with Western powers and NATO over
Ukraine.
اضافة اعلان
NATO member Turkey has irritated Moscow by
supplying combat drones to Ukraine that Russia fears could be used by Kiev in
its conflict with separatists in two eastern regions.
But Turkey has also upset Washington and
NATO by acquiring an advanced missile defense system from Russia that resulted
in sanctions from the US.
Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu
urged Moscow and the Western defence alliance to air their differences in
direct negotiations proposed by NATO chief
Jens Stoltenberg.
Russia wants NATO to provide Moscow with a
binding security guarantee and withdraw its forces to positions they held
before a wave of eastward expansion that began after the Soviet Union's
collapse.
"For any proposal to be accepted, it
should be acceptable by both sides. Russia made some proposals. But maybe NATO
seeks the same kind of guarantees from Russia. This is not a one-sided
issue," Cavusoglu told reporters.
"If the requests are maximalist — I’m
not saying that Russia is maximalist in any case — both sides must be
constructive," he said. "They should come to the table with proposals
that both sides can accept."
A NATO spokesman said the Brussels-based
alliance had been "in touch" with Moscow about holding a meeting of
the
NATO-Russia Council on January 12.
Russia has not yet formally accepted the
offer.
"If Russia has any certain specific
expectation or issue from Turkey regarding reducing tensions between Russia and
NATO, Turkey will evaluate this positively because our objective is
clear," said Cavusoglu.
"Everyone would be affected, God
forbid, by conflict in the region."
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