00:00Professor, from Russia's point of view, security guarantees from the U.S., are they acceptable in any form if they give any sort of security guarantee to Ukraine?
00:09Well, I don't think I can say an absolute no.
00:11Again, the main problem is, of course, the Ukrainians want security guarantees in case Russia would attack.
00:17But the Russians also want security guarantees, that is, security guarantees to keep NATO out of Ukraine, which they consider to be an existential threat.
00:26But the problem there is one excludes the other.
00:30But, of course, it doesn't mean that there's not some possible common middle ground.
00:35Let's say, for example, the security guarantee would entail the U.S. setting up a weapon depot in Poland.
00:41And if Russia would engage in some aggression against Ukraine, then those weapons would be released towards Ukraine.
00:48But, of course, that's very different from any collective defense or anything that would put the presence of any NATO troops in Ukraine,
00:55which is a non-starter for the Russians.
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