Putin Says US, NATO Ignore Russia's Security Demands

english.jpnn.com, RUSSIA - Vladimir Putin said Russia would continue to seek answers from the West for three security demands, which he said had been ignored by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Putin said that last month's reply from the US and NATO did not address the three main demands.

The demands which he said were very important for Russia's security were: no more expansion of NATO; no missile deployment near Russian borders; and the reduction of NATO's military infrastructure in Europe to 1997 levels.

According to Putin, Russia views the reply as only containing cliched statements and proposals on some issues of minor importance.

However, he thought that the dialogue process was not over and Russia would formulate its answers and visions to Washington and Brussels.

Putin spoke in the early hours of Tuesday after nearly six hours of talks with Macron about the Ukraine crisis.

He said the US and NATO ideas, while not addressing the main Russian issue, could still be discussed.

Washington and NATO have said some of Russia's demands, including banning Ukraine from joining NATO, are an impossible idea, but they are ready to discuss with Moscow about arms control and confidence-building measures.