Telegraph: Russia to Demand NATO Pullback to 1997 Levels at Talks

Russia may try to use a new round of peace talks on the Russian-Ukrainian war to extract concessions from NATO, The Telegraph reported on 26 October, citing diplomatic sources.

The newspaper recalls that Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier that Europe must be involved in talks between Russian, Ukrainian and American officials. Diplomats quoted by the paper claim that Moscow's motive for bringing in European countries is to use the next round to win concessions on NATO enlargement.

The 1997 demand

According to the report, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is likely to demand that NATO's presence in Europe be cut back to its 1997 level. As the paper puts it, that could potentially mean withdrawing NATO troops from Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as from Finland.

Where the talks stand

On 23 October President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with US President Donald Trump's special envoys and said a trilateral meeting at team level on ending the war is planned for the first half of November. US government sources say the next round between US, Ukrainian and Russian delegations could take place in Abu Dhabi or Switzerland. Ushakov, for his part, says Russia is ready to resume trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine after 4 November.

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