MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/. Russian President has called for not shifting responsibility for the escalation of the situation around Ukraine on Russia, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday after Putin’s talks with his US counterpart, Joe Biden.
According to the Kremlin, the talks mainly centered round topics related to the Ukrainian crisis and the lack of progress in the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements that are the only basis of a peace settlement in that country.
"The Russian president cited concrete examples to illustrate Kiev’s destructive policy geared to the utter breakdown of the Minsk accords and agreements reached in the Normandy format. He voiced serious concern over Kiev’s provocative actions against Donbass," the Kremlin said.
Biden, in turn, pointed to the allegedly threatening movements of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine and outlined possible sanctions the United States and its allies would be ready to impose in case of further escalation of the situation, it noted.
"Vladimir Putin stressed that it is inadmissible to shift responsibility onto Russia’s shoulders because it is NATO who is making dangerous attempts to exploit Ukraine’s territory and is building up its military potential near our borders," it said. "That is why Russia is seriously interested in having secure, legally fixed guarantees that would exclude NATO’s eastwards expansion and deployment of its offensive weapons systems in Russia’s neighboring countries," the Kremlin said.
The leaders agreed to task their envoys to begin substantive consultations on these sensitive issues, it added.