Russia proposes new security system involving non-aggression pacts with NATO countries

Alexei Drobinin, Head of the Foreign Policy Planning Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, has set out Russia's ideas for a new European security framework, saying that Moscow and NATO member states could sign non-aggression agreements.

As reported by Reuters, Vladimir Medinsky, Russia's chief negotiator at the talks on Ukraine, which resumed this week for the first time since February, stated on Wednesday that a new European security system had been the central topic of the two-day negotiations in Abu Dhabi. However, he did not specify what exactly the meeting participants had discussed.

Drobinin outlined several detailed proposals for the new security system at a conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

The first option would be to establish a collective defence alliance or sign bilateral mutual assistance agreements, similar to Russia's agreements with Belarus and North Korea.

The second would involve political agreements committing each side not to support the other's adversaries in the event of aggression, similar to Moscow's pact with Iran.

The third would be bilateral non-aggression pacts.

"For example, agreements of this kind could be reached, among other things, with individual NATO member states, which would then receive, for instance, additional individual security guarantees from the Russian Federation," Drobinin said.

Some European politicians oppose any discussions on the overall European security architecture, emphasising that agreements on progress in resolving the war in Ukraine, including a ceasefire, must be reached first. Meanwhile, US officials have made it clear that they are open to such discussions.

During the first round of talks the previous day, the parties discussed security guarantees and Russia's demands, and touched on the issue of Ukraine's post-war future.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the trilateral talks on 10 November were "very productive", but that there is still "a lot of work to be done".

The Ukrainian negotiating team reported to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the outcomes of the meetings in Abu Dhabi on 11 November.