Update: After saying on the evening of February 19, in a show on Antena 3 CNN, that Romania is living "a dramatic moment" as, at the meeting with American officials, Russia wanted a new "Yalta-type" sharing of the areas of influence in Europe (but the US rejected "for the moment" the request), the head of the Presidential Chancellery, Cristian Diaconescu, has revised his statements.

According to Hotnews.ro, he claimed on Realitatea Plus and Digi24 TV stations that he was not actually referring to the current discussions in Saudi Arabia but to the negotiations in 2022 when "Russia demanded Romania's return to its sphere of influence."

Less than two hours after the statements for the Antena 3 CNN TV station, in another statement for Realitatea Plus, Diaconescu denied that a new division of spheres of influence and the withdrawal of the United States from Europe, including Romania, was discussed during the negotiations on February 18, 2025, in Riyadh between the representatives of Russia and the US.

Initial story: Romania was informed that the US officials, in the context of the talks with their Russian counterparts in Riyadh, had rejected requests to withdraw the security guarantees for the countries that joined NATO after 1997 (when Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic were officially invited). But the negotiations are far from the end, according to statements.

"The United States has refused, this time, but there are no guarantees [that the same request will be rejected in the future]," said chief of presidential office Cristian Diaconescu, speaking on February 19 for Antena 3, as reported by Hotnews.ro.

"The situation can change from one hour to the next or from one day to the next. They [Russians] failed to convince the Americans. The US representatives sent a message so that Russia would enter a logic of readiness regarding the crisis," declared Diaconescu.

Such requests made by Russia before the invasion of Ukraine have constantly been refused, but the context at that time was totally different.

"[Russians'] expectations are that at some point the US would convince their European partners to withdraw the Nato security zone to the level of 1997. So that we, those who joined the Alliance after 1997, would no longer benefit from these guarantees but [...] would enter a negotiating process as subjects and not as partners, just as it was the case at the Yalta [Conference]. This would obviously lead to a de facto zone of Russian influence. It is not my interpretation, it is their statement," added Diaconescu.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea)