MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Moscow shapes security issues in the most concrete way, while weighing various scenarios, but has fewer options than the United States, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
"Without a doubt, given the current situation, Russia is certainly thinking about how to ensure its own security," the presidential spokesman assured.
"We know from Mrs. [US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria] Nuland that the United States has 18 scenarios. We are also looking at various options. We think that actually there should be far fewer of them because we put together the right question. The question is totally direct and formulated in the most concrete way," Peskov emphasized.
As the Kremlin spokesman pointed out, the objective is not "to complicate those things that, perhaps, are no so complex." "We hope that, as our American counterparts have already mentioned, they will be able to formulate something in writing this week," Peskov said.
Replying to a question about the possibility of deploying Russian missiles in Cuba and Venezuela, the press secretary insisted that the sovereignty of countries must not be disregarded.
"Concerning Latin America and other countries, we are talking about sovereign states, let us not forget about that," Peskov underscored.
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nuland said in an interview with The Financial Times that the Biden administration had prepared 18 various scenarios in case of Russia’s alleged invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov who was asked in an interview with RTVI about the possibility of deploying Russian missiles in Cuba and Venezuela neither confirmed nor excluded these plans.
Negotiations on security guarantees
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. 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.