He also called for greater military cooperation in Syria, where Russian Federation is backing a regime that the West wants to see removed from power.
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At a gathering of more than two dozen defence ministers at North Atlantic Treaty Organisation headquarters, Carter said on Friday key ally the United Arab Emirates agreed to send special forces soldiers to Syria to assist in the development of local Sunni Arab fighters focused on recapturing Raqqa, ISIL’s de facto capital. “We said that, if there is such a strategy, Turkey and Saudi Arabia can join a ground operation”, he said.
Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, told CNN that NATO does not agree with Medvedev’s assessment.
Mr. Medvedev said Russian Federation was “not trying to achieve some secret goals in Syria”, adding that “we are trying to protect our national interests”. We’ve talked specifically about that. We’re a defensive alliance who are arraying ourselves to face a challenge…
Lavrov was speaking before a meeting in Munich with US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss Syria.
As Poroshenko and Medvedev were delivering their speeches, the Normandy Four – the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France – held a closed meeting in Munich.
He said to get rid of the sanctions, Russian Federation must withdraw weapons and troops from Ukraine’s Donbas region, ensure that all Ukrainian hostages are returned; allow humanitarian aid into occupied territories; support free and fair elections in Donbas; and restore Ukraine’s control of its side of the worldwide border.
Islamic State (IS), al Nusra and other groups will not be involved in the ceasefire – and Russian Federation has said it will continue its bombing campaign.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on February 2 that the Pentagon will request $3.4 billion next year for additional troops and training to counter “Russia’s aggression”.
Carter declined to say how many Emirati commandos would go to Syria. Russian Federation is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
As battles rage around the embattled Syrian city, so too has the war of words between Russian Federation and the United States.
“To date, the vast majority of Russia’s attacks have been against legitimate opposition groups”, Mr Kerry told the audience.
He also responded to Medvedev’s claim that Ukraine is going through a civil war. The struggle between communism and capitalism defined the second half of the 20th century.
The Cold War was a period of ideological confrontation between the former Soviet Union and Western countries.
The NATO military alliance was formed after World War II by countries in North America and Western Europe.
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Russia needs an amnesty for primarily Russian-talking individuals within the east who seized authorities buildings in the course of the upheaval of early 2014, when professional-European protesters toppled Russia-backed President Viktor Yanukovich.
