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Russia doubts US is ready to talk about security guarantees, says diplomat

The beginning of the first round of Russia-US talks on security issues in Geneva is scheduled for the evening of January 9

GENEVA, January 9. /TASS/. Russia is ready to discuss in detail its proposals on security guarantees with the US in Geneva, though Moscow doubts Washington is ready for such a talk, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who has arrived for the Russian-US talks on security guarantees, said in an interview with TASS on Sunday.

"Overall, regarding the drafts of the two documents on the table, we will be ready to literally discuss them in detail. Honestly speaking, I really doubt that our American colleagues are ready for such a talk, judging by the signals that we have been hearing in recent days," he said, adding that the issue is about signals both from anonymous representatives of the US administration and officials.

The beginning of the first round of Russia-US talks on security issues in Geneva is scheduled for the evening of January 9, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier, adding that it would be held in a narrow format. The work will continue in an extended format on January 10. The meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels will take place on January 12, while the talks of representatives of Russia and the OSCE in Vienna - on January 13.

The Russian Foreign Ministry made public drafts of a Russian-US treaty on security guarantees and an agreement on measures to ensure the security of Russia and NATO member-states on December 17.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on NATO to begin substantive talks on reliable long-term security guarantees to Russia. He stressed that Moscow needs legally binding guarantees because the West has failed to fulfill its verbal commitments.

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