Moscow posts terms for Ukraine de-escalation

In its response to the US on security proposals for East Europe, the Russian foreign ministry on Thursday stipulated that for de-escalating the situation around Ukraine, “it is fundamentally important” to implement an array of steps, including the halt of arms supplies to Ukraine, the recall of all Western advisers and instructors from there, and NATO countries’ refusal to hold any joint exercises with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Russian message went on to say:  “We did not see our three key demands adequately considered: stopping NATO’s expansion, refusing to use strike weapons systems near Russian borders, and returning the bloc’s military infrastructure in Europe to how it was in 1997.”