The North Atlantic Alliance's response to Russia's security demands does not contain major concessions.
This was reported by the DPA agency, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
"NATO's response to Russia, according to sources, should not be published. According to diplomats, it does not contain big concessions," the message says.
In particular, the bloc will make it clear that it is not going to exclude the admission of new states to its ranks, the agency notes. Readiness for negotiations is expressed in the field of arms control and disarmament.
According to the agency, all 30 countries of the bloc agreed with the wording.
On December 17 last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry published Russian draft agreements on security guarantees that Moscow expects from Washington and NATO. Two treaties - with the United States and members of the alliance - imply, among other things, the rejection of NATO's expansion to the east, including the refusal to accept Ukraine into its membership, as well as the introduction of restrictions on the deployment of serious offensive weapons, in particular nuclear ones.
Russia and the United States are negotiating security guarantees to Moscow from NATO, in particular on the non-expansion of the alliance and the withdrawal of strike weapons. Several rounds of consultations in various formats have already been held, but no agreements have been announced yet.
Nevertheless, the West claims that the discussion is designed to prevent Russia's allegedly impending invasion of Ukraine.
The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov called such statements an empty escalation of tension and stressed that Russia does not pose a threat to anyone. He did not rule out that provocations could be undertaken to justify such statements by the West, and warned of the most serious consequences of any attempts to resolve the crisis in eastern Ukraine by force, TASS notes.
