Russia says it will take nothing less but NATO expansion ban

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has maintained a tough posture amid the tensions over its troop buildup near Ukraine. A top diplomat warn Wednesday that Moscow will accept nothing less but “watertight” U.S. guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine, even though those demand were rejected last week by the U.S. and its allies.  Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who led the Russian delegation at last week’s security talks with the U.S.,  says Moscow has no intentions of invading Ukraine. But he emphasized that Russia wants legally binding guarantees from the West that NATO will not expand to Ukraine or other former Soviet nations or place its troops and weapons there.