Russian negotiators have presented a sweeping set of requirements for ending the conflict in Ukraine that would fundamentally alter the defense posture of Eastern Europe. In a position paper circulated during informal talks in Abu Dhabi, Moscow requested that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization halt all future expansion and withdraw its military presence to the levels established in 1997. The latest terms also call for the end of Western arms shipments to Kyiv and the imposition of restrictions on nuclear protection provided by Britain and France to other European allies.
The proposal includes demands for the removal of NATO bases from the Baltic states and requires Finland to renounce its membership in the alliance, a condition Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen dismissed as “absolutely outrageous.” In exchange for these concessions, the Kremlin offered to pull troops from Transnistria and remove nuclear weapons from Belarus. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected the push for a new European security architecture, stating that existing arrangements via NATO are sufficient.
