Photo credit: Russian Foreign Ministry / flickr.com (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Russian Foreign Ministry has received a written response from the United States to Moscow's proposals on security guarantees, RIA Novosti reports. The day before, on January 26, it was handed over to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko by American Ambassador John Sullivan.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the document contains ideas, not suggestions. Among them are the deployment of offensive missile systems, the transparency of millitary exercises and arms control.
NATO also delivered a response to the Russian proposals. The head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said that the document was supported by all NATO allies. As expected, the Western countries refused to make concessions that Moscow considers fundamental.
NATO wants Russia to restore the work of missions in Moscow and Brussels, to establish a direct line of communication and to make the most of military contacts in order to avoid incidents.
The document does not contain any steps towards Moscow on any of its three key requirements.
The Kremlin's demands boil down to three crucial points: American nuclear weapons should be withdrawn from Europe, NATO military forces should leave Russian borders, NATO should abandon plans to include Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance .
Moscow emphasized that the Russian proposals are not a ''menu'' from which one can choose, but a package agreement.
Russkiy Mir
