Putin wants to use the talks on Ukraine to pressure NATO: what the Kremlin will demand

Russia may use the new round of peace talks on Ukraine to extract concessions from NATO and reduce the Alliance’s military presence in Europe. According to sources, Moscow may once again demand a return to NATO force deployments to 1997 levels, which would involve withdrawing troops from a number of Alliance countries.

This is reported by The Telegraph .

According to the publication, the Kremlin is seeking to involve European countries in talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia to raise the issue of NATO’s eastward expansion, a process Vladimir Putin has previously called one of the “root causes” of the war against Ukraine.

Returning to NATO’s 1997 military presence would potentially mean withdrawing Alliance troops from Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland, which joined NATO in 2023.

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov previously said that Europe needs to be involved in the peace talks, as its position is important for reaching agreements. According to him, after the meeting of the US and Russian presidents in Alaska in 2025, Moscow hoped that Washington would be able to force Kyiv to agree to the proposed conditions, but this did not happen.

Ushakov also announced Russia’s readiness to resume trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine in November. The next round of technical consultations is planned to be held in Abu Dhabi.

According to journalists, Ukrainian and European officials have agreed to discuss broader issues of post-war European security during the upcoming talks. The publication suggests that Putin’s willingness to return to the negotiation process may be related to the opportunity to discuss Russian demands and Washington’s decision to ease some sanctions on Russian fuel exports.

At the same time, European diplomats emphasize that their position on Moscow’s demands remains unchanged. One official noted that it is consistent with NATO’s position outlined in January 2022 in response to Russian demands for European security.

The Alliance then agreed to discuss security issues, but rejected Russia’s demands for the withdrawal of troops and nuclear weapons.

By the way, Russia is building a new over-the-horizon radar station in the Kaliningrad region near the borders of Poland and Lithuania . According to preliminary estimates, depending on the technical characteristics, it will be able to detect targets at a distance of up to 3,000 kilometers, which could potentially allow monitoring military activity over a large part of Europe.

Recall that Russia is accumulating new military equipment at storage bases, including near the borders with NATO countries . This began to happen after it emptied its equipment storage bases as a result of the war with Ukraine.

It was previously reported that, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Russia is developing scenarios for a possible military confrontation with European states by 2045. Among the potential areas of aggression are Poland and the Baltic countries.

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