MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Wednesday said the European security situation was critical and blamed the US and NATO.

"It’s true that the situation in the area of European security is critical," he said at a meeting of the Valdai discussion club. "It’s become so because of Washington and NATO which among other things use Ukraine as leverage against Russia."

Ryabkov said Russia proposed to the US and other Western countries a realistic option for the way out. Russia’s delegations had productive talks on the issues in Geneva, Brussels and within the OSCE last week, he said. The meeting allowed the sides to better understand the views of each other, 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.

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.