Political scientist, director of the Institute for Political Studies Sergei Markov told how events will develop after the negotiations between Russia, the United States and NATO.
According to the expert, confrontation between the countries should not be expected in the near future. Markov noted that Russia is now awaiting a written response on the security guarantees promised by the United States. It should formulate Washington’s proposals, which will be further discussed. The political scientist believes that the US response will consist of two blocks. The first point will be on limiting the deployment of strike weapons.
“First of all, NATO restrictions on the deployment of medium and short-range missiles near the borders of Russia. Moreover, this will be precisely the limitation of NATO. Because Russia will not limit its weapons on its territory. But US strike missiles on the territory of other countries will be limited”, Markov explained in his Telegram channel.
According to him, the United States will demand that Russia withdraw its missiles from the Kaliningrad region. However, Washington can agree to its own restrictions, the expert noted. The second point could be the restriction of military exercises near the border.
“Here, first of all, there will be restrictions from NATO, because Russia will insist that it should not limit its exercises on its territory. Say, let Estonia and Bulgaria conduct their exercises as they wish. But the US military should drastically limit its exercises in these countries”, Markov believes.
The expert stressed that the negotiations between Russia, the United States and NATO had some positive effect, but it is not enough to fully ensure the security of the Russian Federation. According to Markov, Russia can take tough unilateral actions, which will lead to a crisis in relations with the United States.
“The time of crisis is most likely planned by Russia for after the end of the Olympic Games in China. And in the United States, they would like to disrupt the Olympic Games in China at the same time and will try to do everything right before these Olympic Games. End of January, beginning of February,” the political scientist summed up.