On December 15, the Russian Federation delivered to the United States of America the project of a Treaty and an Agreement to defuse the growing tension between the two parties.
The two documents were made public by the Russian Foreign Ministry on December 17.
The draft treaty foresees in Art. 1, that each of the two parties “shall not undertake actions that affect the security of the other party” and,
In Art.2, that “shall seek to ensure that all international organizations and military alliances in which it is taking part adhere to the principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations.”.
In Art. 3 the two parties commit themselves “not to use the territories of other States with a view to preparing or carrying out an armed attack against the other Party“.
Art. 4 provides then, that “the United States shall not establish military bases in the territory of the States of the former USSR that are not members of NATO”, and “shall deny accession to the Alliance to the States of the former USSR to prevent further eastward expansion of NATO“.
In Art. 5 “the parties shall refrain from deploying their armed forces and armaments, including in the framework of military alliances, in the areas where such deployment could be perceived by the other party as a threat to its national security.”
Thus “they shall refrain from flying heavy bombers equipped for nuclear or non-nuclear armaments and from deploying warships in areas, outside national airspace and territorial waters, from where they can attack targets in the territory of the other party.”
In Art. 6 “the parties shall undertake not to deploy ground-launched intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles outside their national territories, as well as in the areas of their national territories, from which such weapons can attack targets in the national territory of the other Party” and that “shall not train military and civilian personnel from non-nuclear countries to use nuclear weapons, nor conduct exercises involving the use of nuclear weapons.”
In Art. 7 “the parties shall refrain from deploying nuclear weapons outside their national territories and return such weapons to their national territories”, and “shall not train military and civilian personnel from non-nuclear countries to use nuclear weapons” nor “conduct exercises involving the use of nuclear weapons.”
The draft Agreement established procedures for the Treaty operation, based on the commitment that the two parties “will resolve all disputes in their relations by peaceful means“, and “will use the mechanisms of bilateral consultations and information, including hotlines for emergency contacts.” The US party was given detailed explanations regarding the logic of the Russian approach, and the Russian Foreign Ministry hoped that in the near future the United States will enter into serious talks with Russia on this critical issue.
The U.S. party is silent for now. However, the Voice of America, Washington’s multimedia megaphone that speaks to hundreds of millions of people around the world in more than 40 languages, is making its voice heard: it said that “many experts are concerned about the Russia’s gambit, which wants to use the failure of the negotiations as a pretext to invade Ukraine”.
NATO is silent for now, waiting for orders from Washington. Italy is silent, even though it is not the direct recipient of the Russian proposal but it is part of the cause: among the nuclear weapons that the US deployed outside its territory there are the B61 bombs [tactical nuclear weapons] installed in Ghedi and Aviano bases, soon to be replaced by the more deadly B61-12, and our military personnel is trained for their use despite Italy being officially a non-nuclear country. And the U.S. is preparing to install in Italy also new nuclear missiles with intermediate range.
While the media is maintaining an almost total silence on the Russian proposal, the Parliamentary groups are ignoring it as if it had nothing to do with Italy, the country is exposed to growing dangers as an advanced base for US nuclear forces against Russia. Make them at least find the time to read in a few minutes the draft that Russia handed over to the USA to open the negotiations, and have the political courage to publicly express their opinion. If it is negative, let them explain why it is contrary to our Constitution and our security.
First published by il manifesto, December 21, 2021. Translated from Italian by the author.
Manlio Dinucci is an award winning author, geopolitical analyst and geographer. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
