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Russia, West are ‘on totally different tracks’ - Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov once again called for legally binding guarantees that Ukraine will not become a NATO member

NEW YORK, January 16. /TASS/. Russia and the West are ‘on totally different tracks,’ and this causes concern, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Bloomberg in an interview to CNN.

"There are some understandings between us," Peskov said. "But in general, in principle, we can now say that we are staying on different tracks, on totally different tracks, and this is not good, and this is disturbing."

According to Bloomberg, Peskov once again called for legally binding guarantees that Ukraine will not become a NATO member. Otherwise, Kiev will have a legitimate opportunity to do so eventually, he said.

On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a draft agreement on security guarantees between Russia and the United States and a draft agreement on ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. The proposed measures include guarantees that NATO will not advance eastward, including the accession of Ukraine and other countries into the alliance. They also impose restrictions on deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear ones.

Consultations on the issue took place in Geneva on January 10, followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12 and a session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council in Vienna on January 13.