Russia is calling on the US not to delay the launch of negotiations, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stressed
/TASS/. Russia will not accept any preconditions from Washington in terms of future work to formalize Russia’s proposals on security guarantees, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the International Affairs magazine, a part of which was published on Thursday.
“We would like the agreements that we put on paper to be formalized promptly so that they take the shape of contractual agreements. If the US demands we carry out some activities on our territory as a precondition, which will appeal to Washington and to other NATO capitals or which the Americans would like to present as a precondition for future work at Kiev’s behest, this won’t do,” he pointed out.
According to the deputy foreign minister, if something of this sort happens, Russia will come to the conclusion that the US “lacks political will to make agreements” and is taking advantage of these developments “to cover up its ongoing policy aimed at using the territory of Ukraine and other countries for military purposes against Russia.” “This is what made us put forward these proposals,” he noted. “Under these circumstances, the responsibility for future tensions – and they seem inevitable in such a situation – will be shouldered by the Americans and US allies,” Ryabkov added.
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In this regard, Moscow is calling on Washington not to delay the launch of negotiations on security guarantees and is waiting for a specific response, the senior Russian diplomat stressed. “From the very beginning, we have been expressing readiness to immediately engage in dialogue without delay. However, I presume that the Christmas season turned out to be an obstacle for them. A brief pause between Western Christmas and the New Year’s Day will follow, but the process cannot be delayed any longer,” Ryabkov said.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released draft agreements on legally-binding security guarantees on the part of the United States and NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier called on NATO to launch substantive negotiations in order to provide Russia with reliable and long-term security guarantees. The head of state specified that Russia was seeking legal and judicial guarantees because the West had earlier failed to keep its verbal promises. According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov informed White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan of Moscow’s readiness to immediately launch talks on the draft agreements on security guarantees. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov will represent Russia at the negotiations.