Week after Biden-Putin meeting, crunch time is coming

Mirage-2000 over Black Sea on Dec. 8, as NATO spy planes crowd Russia’s borders. Russian Defence Ministry daily Krasnaya Zvezda said on Dec 13 radars have tracked over 40 aircraft conducting reconnaissance near Russia’s borders over past week.

Russia is reiterating its ‘red lines’ seeking long-term legal guarantees against NATO’s further advancement to the east and the deployment of weapons on Russia’s western borders.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on December 10 putting on record its expectation that long term legal guarantees must be given “within a specific time-frame and on the basis of the principle of comprehensive and indivisible security.”