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Russia’s security initiatives should not be seen as ultimatum — senior diplomat

According to Sergey Ryabkov, Russia cannot afford to "round off or gloss over things" any longer because "because it is time to call things by their proper names"

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russia’s proposals to NATO on security guarantees should not be seen as an ultimatum, but as an invitation to a serious conversation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Monday.

"It is not an ultimatum, it is an invitation to a serious conversation," he said, adding that the Russian initiative "has nothing that excludes negotiating process."

According to the senior diplomat, Russia cannot afford to "round off or gloss over things" any longer because "because it is time to call things by their proper names."

On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry released two Russian draft agreements in security guarantees from the United States and NATO. These documents were handed over to the US side at a meeting at the Russian foreign ministry on December 15.

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