Russian Security Proposals Unlikely to Stop US, NATO Aggression, Anti-War Group Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Moscow's proposals on security guarantees are tactically good, however, they will not stop US and NATO aggression towards Russia, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) coordinator Joe Lombardo said.

"I think it is important for Russia to make this proposal but I think it will not stop the US and NATO from their aggression towards Russia and other countries," Lombardo said. "US imperialism has a dynamic of its own and it will always try to expand and undercut any country that will not be dominated by the US."

Lombardo said the proposals are "good tactically" because it helps the world see that one side wants peace and the other side is the aggressor.

"However, because of the controlled corporate media, most people in the US will never hear about this proposal," Lombardo said.

Washington will not agree to these points because the US and NATO want to make Russia part of their neoliberal sphere of domination, he added.

Moreover, Lombardo said, the tensions feed the US military-industrial complex, which is a major part of the American economy. The US, he noted, has troops in 172 countries and about 20 times the number of foreign military bases as all other countries combined.

Lombardo said the US aggression happens in the context of a changing world.

"The US is being bypassed as the dominant economic power by China," he said. "The countries that the US has sanctioned, which is now about 42 countries, have been working together to get around the sanctions."

Programs like China’s Belt and Road initiative are changing the economic realities in the world, he added, while the Nordstream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany is threatening the US and Ukraine.

"This makes the US more desperate and more dangerous,"  Lombardo concluded. "The US will not back down and this creates a very dangerous situation in the world."

On Friday, Moscow published draft agreements between Russia, the United States and NATO on security guarantees. The proposals, if agreed to, would ban NATO from expanding eastward and prohibit the US and Russia from deploying intermediate and shorter-range missiles within striking distance of each other's territory, among other terms.

The security issue has surged in importance on the backdrop of the growing tensions around Ukraine, as Russia stands accused of allegedly deploying troops near the Ukrainian border in preparation for an invasion.

Moscow has repeatedly denied those accusations, pointing to NATO's military activity near Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. Russia has also said it has the right to move forces within its own territory.