US State Dept confirms US received Russia's written follow-up to security proposals
Feb 01, 2022
Washington [US], February 1 (ANI/Sputnik): The US has received Russia's written follow-up on the Biden administration's security proposals and will continue to consult allies including Ukraine to address these issues, a State Department spokesperson told Sputnik.
"We can confirm we received a written follow-up from Russia. It would be unproductive to negotiate in public, so we'll leave it up to Russia if they want to discuss their response. We remain fully committed to dialogue to address these issues and will continue to consult closely with our Allies and partners, including Ukraine," the spokesperson said on Monday.
Russia's response to the United States proposal comes ahead of the telephone call scheduled for Tuesday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
On Wednesday, the United States and NATO submitted to Moscow written responses to Russia's proposals on security guarantees.
Lavrov said the following day that the United States response left unanswered the main question about non-expansion of NATO eastward.
Moscow published its security suggestions for NATO and the United States in late 2021 as tensions flared around Ukraine. Moscow specifically requested guarantees that NATO would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia. The United States insists it will not allow anyone to slam NATO's open door policy shut.
The United States claims Russia wants to invade Ukraine. However, Russia has rejected the accusations, claiming it has a right to move its armed forces within its sovereign territory. (ANI/Sputnik)