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Russia, US won’t manage to resolve security issues in one meeting, senior diplomat says

Sergey Ryabkov stressed that Russia viewed the current situation in the security sphere as "demanding urgent actions"

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. Moscow and Washington won’t be able to reach agreements on the issues of security guarantees in one meeting, however, it is also impossible to protract the negotiation process, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Tuesday.

"It is impossible to reach an agreement in one day, nor can we protract the process since the issue is very urgent and very serious, as well," he said.

The senior diplomat emphasized that the Russian side views the current situation in the security sphere as "demanding urgent actions." "That’s why the attempts by the other side - quite expected ones - to stretch out the process, to turn this all into endless arguments, and that goes for the agenda as well, whose priorities and so on, will be viewed by us as a gamble to disrupt [the talks] with ensuing consequences," he said.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the draft agreements between Moscow and Washington on security guarantees and the measures of ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states.

These drafts were submitted to Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried on December 15. On December 23, at his annual press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that overall so far Moscow has noted a positive reaction by the US to its proposals on security guarantees. He noted that according to the Americans, Washington is ready to begin these talks early next year in Geneva. Additionally, earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had confirmed receiving Russia’s proposals on security guarantees in Europe and said that the alliance would study them.