Russia has written a stern letter to the Irish Government demanding a "prompt response" to a series of claims that the Government may have changed its position on post-Cold War European security arrangements.
The letter demands a "clear answer" to whether Ireland had changed its attitude to previous commitments on European security, signed over the past three decades.
The letter, seen by RTÉ News, was signed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney.
It asserts that European countries, including Ireland, had agreed to the principle that no country could strengthen its own security at the expense of another's security.
Russia has claimed that Ukraine’s reorientation towards the EU and NATO in recent years has effectively transgressed this principle.
The West, in turn, has accused Russia of attempting to redraw the map of Europe by invading Ukraine, which the West insists has the sovereign right to choose its own future.
Mr Lavrov wrote: "We want to receive a clear answer on how our partners understand their obligation [on this principle] ... How exactly does your Government intend to fulfil this obligation in practice under present conditions.
"If you renounce this obligation, we request that you clearly state so."
The letter added: "We are looking forward to your prompt response. It should not take much time - it only means clarification of the understanding that was the basis for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to sign the relevant commitments."
That appears to be a reference to Mr Ahern’s presence at an OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, which produced a Charter for European Security.
Russia has massed up to 140,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders amid escalating tensions with the West over a possible invasion.
The Kremlin has accused the West of stoking tension and refusing to accept its demands that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO and that the alliance scale back its activities in eastern Europe.
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Russia has denied it intends to invade Ukraine, but has accused the West of unsettling the European security framework through NATO expansion.
In the letter, Mr Lavrov claims that both the Charter for European Security, and a follow up declaration at an OSCE summit in Kazakhstan in 2010, committed signatory countries to the principle that NATO should have changed its posture after the ending of the Cold War.
"The fact that the West is now openly and unilaterally trying to revise in its favour these diplomatic achievements of all OSCE leaders is a cause for grave concern," Mr Lavrov stated.
Similar versions of the letter have been sent to other EU and NATO member states and Switzerland. Some, but not all members of the OSCE have also received a version of the letter, it is understood.
The letter makes it clear that Ireland should respond individually, and not as part of a collective EU response to the letter.
"We proceed from the assumption that the reaction to this message is to come in a national capacity, since the mentioned commitments were taken by each member state on [an] individual basis and not on behalf of, or as a member of any organisation," Mr Lavrov wrote.
It is understood the Government will decline this demand.
EU diplomats will discuss a joint response at a meeting tomorrow. One diplomat said the letter has been received with dismay in EU capitals, given Russia’s military posture on Ukraine’s borders.
The US has already sent a brief response to the letter, it is understood.
