Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has said that Russia should agree to withdraw forces from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as part of the security deal proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Foreign Ministry published a proposed treaty between Russia and the United States, urging NATO to deny membership to the post-Soviet states.
The United States of America shall not establish military bases in the territory of the States of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, use their infrastructure for any military activities or develop bilateral military cooperation with them, they wrote.
In response, McFaul proposed additional articles to the draft agreement.
- Article 1. Russia agrees to withdraw its forces from Moldova and restore full sovereignty to this European country.
- Article 2. Russia agrees to withdraw its forces from Georgia, renounce recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries, and restore the full sovereignty of Georgia.
- Article 3. Russia agrees to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, return Crimea to Ukraine, stop supporting separatist forces in Ukraine, and restore the full sovereignty of this European country, McFaul wrote.
Now that Putin has published his ideas for a new European security agreement, let me propose some additional articles to the draft agreement. 1/
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) December 17, 2021
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed the alliance's support for the post-Soviet states, saying that the alliance 'will not compromise' on the right of the nations to choose their own path.