Russia Revives Demand for NATO Pullback to 1997 Lines in Ukraine Talks

An informal, unsigned “non-paper” dated Nov. 10 was passed around during closed-door talks in Abu Dhabi this week, The New York Times reported, citing a copy obtained from a person involved in the talks.

A second person confirmed its authenticity. Neither side has confirmed the paper’s wording, and a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin did not respond on Friday.

NATO Pullback and Expansion Ban

The paper, described as Moscow’s opening position, calls for NATO to withdraw its troops and bases to the alliance’s 1997 borders.

The Times said that would weaken Poland and the Baltic states.

Echoing December 2021 demands, in some cases “word for word,” it also says NATO must rule out further expansion and “any military activity” in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.

U.S. envoys had already asked Moscow to submit a new European security proposal rather than those earlier terms.

Nuclear Limits and Arms Cutoff

The paper seeks an end to NATO nuclear-sharing arrangements that extend American nuclear protection to European allies.

It also asks France and the United Kingdom to rule out using their own nuclear weapons to defend other European countries.

Moscow wants a halt to “the supply of any type of Western weapons and military equipment and products to Ukraine.” It would approve Ukraine joining the European Union only if Kyiv stays out of the bloc’s common defense policy.

Flexibility Signal and European Pushback

Russian officials signaled that Putin could still show flexibility, while citing the Cold War and the Warsaw Pact as a model for postwar Europe.

After the talks, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow on Thursday. Yuri Ushakov, his foreign policy adviser, later said Putin told them that the 2021 proposal still reflected “our vision of the pillars of an indivisible security architecture.”

A U.S. official said the envoys told the Russian side that much had changed since late 2021 and that Washington is open to new proposals with concrete steps by Russia to ease tensions.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in Dublin on Thursday that “accepting Russia’s conditions would mean a direct threat to Poland’s security.”

“It is clear that they are unacceptable not only to Ukraine but, above all, to Europe, and certainly to countries such as Poland,” Tusk said.

Clash Report earlier reported a separate unofficial Russian draft, described by Bild, that would require Finland to leave NATO. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen later rejected that reported demand as “absolutely outrageous.”

The envoys then briefed President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin, where Kushner said “we cannot conclude this deal without Europeans being at the table.” President Donald Trump and Putin are due to meet next week in Shenzhen, China.

Zelensky later said U.S. negotiators had asked whether Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas if it joined NATO.