MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. There is no risk of a massive war in Europe, and Russia has no plans to take any aggressive actions against Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on the platform of the Valdai Discussion Club on Wednesday.
"I am certain that there is no risk of a large-scale war which might break out in Europe or anywhere else. We do not intend to take any aggressive actions. We will not attack, raid or invade Ukraine," the deputy foreign minister stressed.
According to the diplomat, Moscow sees a threat in the fact that Ukraine "is becoming more and more integrated into NATO," even without obtaining a formal membership in that alliance.
"That is what lies at the core of Russia’s security interests," the high-ranking diplomat said. "We will be doing our utmost to reverse and rebalance this situation through diplomatic channels. So the draft agreements that have been proposed to the US are exactly the path [we] should set on for a diplomatic solution."
Ryabkov recalled that the draft agreements on European security proposed by Russia are in a package, so Moscow is not prepared to "break them into certain parts."
"Let’s say, we are not ready to consider some directions at the expense of others. The priority for us is to achieve solid legally binding assurances from the United States that that country (Ukraine - TASS) along with the other countries we have already mentioned will not become NATO members," he explained.
On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a draft agreement with the United States on security guarantees and another one on measures ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. Russia-US consultations on these issues were held in Geneva on January 10. A Russia-NATO Council meeting was held in Brussels on January 12, and a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council was held in Vienna on January 13.