Russia took note of the words of the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, about the need for the EU to attend consultations between Moscow and Washington on security guarantees, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
“We have taken note. We will look. We propose that the United States should conduct bilateral negotiations on this topic. As for other formats, we take into account the wishes of certain figures, certain representatives of structures, of course, but this does not mean that that we are changing our position”, Ryabkov said.
“We continue to advocate a bilateral negotiation process with Washington,” he added.
Russia previously published draft treaties with the United States and NATO, which include, in particular, provisions on mutual security guarantees in Europe, on the non-deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles in each other’s reach and on refusal from further NATO expansion eastward, including for account of the former republics of the USSR.
The documents have already been transferred to Washington and its allies. One of the points of the project is proposed that NATO provide guarantees of non-expansion of the alliance into the territory of Ukraine. As RIA Novosti Ryabkov stated earlier, if NATO and the United States do not respond to Russia’s demand for security guarantees, this could lead to a new round of confrontation.