MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. During the January 10 talks in Geneva, Russia will strive to attain firm security guarantees from the US, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
"On January 10 in Geneva, the talks are planned in the format of an interagency delegation of Russia and the US. The Russian delegation will be led by the Russian deputy foreign minister, and the American side - by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman," she said. "The date has been set. At the moment, it has no alternative variants," the spokeswoman added.
"The agenda, naturally, indicates the discussion of two Russian drafts of fundamental documents submitted by Russia to the US on December 15 - an agreement between Russia and the US on security guarantees and an agreement on the measures of ensuring the security of Russia and the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. During the talks, we will strive to attain the firm legal guarantees of Russia’s security from the American side, namely, the non-advancement of NATO to the east and the non-deployment of weapon systems threatening Russia near the borders of our country," the diplomat emphasized.
On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS that the Russian-American consultations on security guarantees will take place in Geneva on January 10. According to him, the Russian-NATO consultations on security guarantees will be held in Brussels after the meeting between the representatives of Moscow and Washington.
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.