A top Kremlin official said on Friday that Russia does not “want wars,” hinting that the country is softening its stance on Ukraine while thousands of troops remain on the border.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview that there will not be a war “if it depends on Russia,” according to a Reuters report, but he added that Moscow would not allow its interests to be ignored or “rudely trampled.” Lavrov noted that he could not rule out actions upon being provoked on the border, according to a translation of the interview by Russian state-run news agency Tass.
Lavrov’s comments come just days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. had delivered its response to demands from Russia amid the country's buildup of forces. The Russian foreign minister said in his interview that there was at least “something” in the response from the U.S., according to Reuters. Blinken had affirmed on Wednesday that the U.S. will not support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that the former Soviet state be prevented from joining NATO.
“The ball’s in their court,” Blinken told reporters. “As I've said repeatedly, whether they choose the path of diplomacy and dialogue, whether they decide to renew aggression against Ukraine, we're prepared either way.”
In his first public comments since the U.S. formal reply, Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday that Russia “would carefully study the written responses received on January 26 from the United States and NATO to draft agreements on security guarantees, after which it would decide on its further actions,” according to a translated Kremlin readout of the leaders’ call. The Russian president, however, noted that the proposals did not take into account “fundamental concerns,” such as preventing NATO expansion.
Other senior members of the Russian government with close ties to Putin also offered more tempered language following the U.S. response.
“No one is looking for a war, and everything must be done so that there is no war,” Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, who served as president between Putin’s first and current terms, told Tass in a lengthy interview published Friday, according to a translation.
Before Friday, the Kremlin had remained steadfast in its pressure. Tass quoted spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday saying “no one will delay a reaction” to America’s written response to their proposals, according to a translation. A statement from Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Alexey Zaytsev, later published by the news agency, called on NATO to withdraw its forces from Eastern European states.
In his first public remarks since the U.S. sent Russia its formal reply, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the West remains open to overtures from Moscow while maintaining readiness for war.
“We are prepared for both a scenario where Russia invades or a scenario where they actually decide to sit down in good faith for talks with NATO and NATO allies,” the former Norwegian prime minister told the Atlantic Council think tank from his headquarters in Brussels.
And Stoltenberg challenged the premise of Russia’s demands for NATO to downsize when compared to the effect of Moscow’s actions.
“If Russia wants less NATO at its borders, then they have actually achieved exactly the opposite,” he said. “And if they use force again against Ukraine, they will achieve even more NATO at their borders.
NATO and the U.S. now await the Kremlin’s official response. Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow is preparing different versions but added that Putin will make the final decision, according to Tass.
Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for political affairs, spoke similarly in comments to reporters on Thursday, brushing aside rhetoric from other Russian officials and describing Putin as the “one decider.”
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