Russia Demands US Strategic Retreat, Demands US Agree Draft Treaties Ending/Reversing NATO Expansion, Revive INF, ABM Treaties, Respect UN, End US Exceptionalism, Regime Change Wars
by
Alexander Mercouris
The Duran (December 18, 2021)
https://theduran.com/russia-demands-us-strategic-retreat-demands-us-agree-draft-treaties-ending-reversing-nato-expansion-revive-inf-abm-treaties-respect-un-end-us-exceptionalism-regime-change-wars/

[partial Video Transcript]

. . .

[53:12] Alexander Mercouris: ““No more unilateral regime-change wars. No possibility of NATO conducting interventions in Afghanistan and Yugoslavia and Libya. The only organization or institution authorized to enable and direct military action against any state is the Security Council of the United Nations in accordance with Chapter Seven of the UN Charter. Again, a radical change in the military system.

[53:58] “And then Article Nine is a tidying up provision setting up mechanisms for ratification of this agreement and the way in which it is brought into force.”

“Well, overall, a geostrategic revolution. If these treaties were ever accepted and agreed, the whole Western military alliance system as we have known it would, in effect, cease to exist. We would no longer have regime-change wars around the world. We would no longer have “Western Exceptionalism.” We would have a completely different security situation in Europe. This endless program of “Democracy” promotion – even, in effect, of Globalization – would come to a complete stop.”

[54:49] “Now. The most interesting thing about these two agreements is that the United States has received them. And, of course, from the U.S. point of view, they are completely unacceptable. It is inconceivable that the United States at the present time would agree to either of these agreements. And, of course, the prospects of the treaty gaining ratification in the U.S. Senate, for the moment, is nil. But, despite that, the United States has not rejected these two documents out of hand. On the contrary, they say that these would be a basis for discussion. Nothing illustrates more starkly the change in the balance of forces in Europe and between Russia and the West, than the fact that the Americans are even prepared to talk about agreements and documents and treaties of this nature. Already, I would argue, that is a transformation of the international situation. It speaks of a radical shift in the global balance of power.”

[56:19] “Now, will these treaties in these forms ever crystallize? Will we ever get treaties like this? Well, not any time soon. In their present form, they are unacceptable to the United States. They are unacceptable to the NATO powers. The British would be horrified by an agreement like this. And, of course, so would the [Polish]. So would the Baltic states [or statelets]. So would other countries. But, if one looks forward to the much longer term, say in ten years time, with perhaps the balance of power shifting even further, away from the United States, and in Russia’s and China’s favor. Well, at that point, as a long-term agreement, it’s possible we could start to see something along these lines being formally agreed at last.

“Because, if we think about it, what the Russians are demanding is not unreasonable. They want peace in Europe; their security to be accepted in Europe; their core interests to be recognized. They are not seeking to “threaten” any Western country, but they do want peace and stability in Europe, which was what, after all, they were promised at the end of the Cold War. And given that this does not impinge, in any significant way, on U.S. core interests, or on the security of the United States, or on the Western powers, we can perhaps see a situation where one day the United States might decide that agreeing to something like this is in its interests, too. Certainly, I think so. But, as I said, we are a long way from that point yet. And the fact that the Russians have presented the United States with these documents, firstly we should see them as an aspiration, or as a long-term objective, but also as an indication of what the Russians are working towards, but perhaps more as the shape of things one day to come than as anything we will see happen in the short term.

[58:59] “Anyway, as I said, The remarkable thing is that the Russians are now making these proposals and that the United States is willing to discuss them. The fact that the United States is willing to discuss them, by the way, explains why it wasn’t Victoria Nuland who was sent to receive these documents. Had someone like that been offered them, one could imagine what her reactions would have been. It’s not inconceivable that she would have torn them up in Ryabkov’s presence or done something foolish like that. Anyway, we have a long journey before us before anything like this is ever agreed. We will see where that happens.”