TASS, January 13. Russia expects that the US and NATO will ‘put on paper’ their response to the proposals on security guarantees within a week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Thursday.
"We still expect that the promises made in Geneva and Brussels will be fulfilled. They referred to the fact that the US and NATO would put their proposals on paper," the top diplomat said. "Americans promised us to work really hard, and we said that it they needed to do their best, to prepare their counter proposals by the next week. [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg on behalf of the alliance also promised to provide written replies. I think it will be done within a week," Lavrov noted.
"We repeatedly explained that we needed an article-by-article response to our proposals. <…> If they want to exclude or add something, they should do it in a written form," the foreign minister said. "After that, together with the Defense Minister, we will report this to the Russian President, since it was his initiative. And then, we will prepare our response to the counter initiatives of our Western partners," the top diplomat stated.