Many national security officials are urging the Biden administration to flatly reject Russian proposals to restrict further NATO expansion, but critics warn that bluster from Washington DC is pushing the United States closer to conflict with a nuclear-armed power. Russia’s Foreign Ministry published a document Dec. 17 of demands it’s made to the United States and NATO. Tensions have mounted in recent weeks over Ukraine, where Russian president Vladimir Putin has reportedly amassed more than 100,000 soldiers. According to the Russian News Agency TASS, Putin’s proposal calls for the United States to “take measures to prevent further eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and deny accession to the Alliance to the former USSR republics.” The deal would also have the United States commit to refraining from building military bases in former Soviet states that are not NATO members and from using their infrastructure for military activity. In …