Brussels. December 17th. INTERFAX - The United States is open to discussing issues with Russia on the NATO negotiating platform or in the OSCE format, US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told reporters during an online event on Friday.
"We are open to appropriate consultations in NATO, the OSCE format, or on the strategic dialogue between the United States and the Russian Federation on arms control. But it should be clear: if Moscow does not choose to reduce tensions and continues further aggression, there will be serious consequences. We are working to ensure that we are united and ready if this sad day comes," Western media quoted her as saying.
According to her, "the stakes are enormous," and the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country", NATO's right to make its own decisions, the general security situation in Europe may be in question.
At the same time, she accused the Russian Federation of blocking efforts to resolve the situation in Ukraine within the Normandy format. She also mentioned that if the US efforts would be useful in parallel with this format, then Washington "would be happy to support them."
At the same time, she expressed the view that the Russian leadership has not yet made a decision on the invasion of Ukraine. However, she noted that Moscow has already prepared all means in case of such a scenario, including military forces, means of internal destabilization of Ukraine and disinformation about the situation.
She recalled that US President Joe Biden, in a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke about the possibility of using economic and political tools against Russia that were not used in the past. Nuland assured that the United States is working on measures whose impact will be "rapid and profound."
