MOSCOW, Feb 1 - RIA Novosti. Moscow is completing an interdepartmental coordination of the response to the response of the United States and NATO on security guarantees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"At this stage, we are completing the interdepartmental coordination of proposals received from the United States on other issues, we will report them to our president," the minister said after a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
At the end of 2021, Russia published drafts of a treaty with the United States and an agreement with NATO on security guarantees. Moscow, in particular, demands from Western partners legal guarantees against further expansion of NATO to the east, from joining the bloc of Ukraine and from the creation of military bases in post-Soviet countries. The proposals also contain a clause on the non-deployment of NATO strike weapons near the borders of Russia and the withdrawal of alliance forces in Eastern Europe to the positions of 1997. On January 26, the United States and NATO sent written responses to Russia's proposals on security guarantees to Moscow.
According to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the document reflects US concerns about Russia's actions in the security sphere and offers suggestions on areas where countries can find common ground. According to him, there are "very positive things" in the written response, the United States is ready to move forward in areas where cooperation with Russia is possible, ready to discuss common security, the response once again stressed that the United States will not compromise the principle of "open doors" of NATO.
