MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Russia will not delay a reaction to the West’s responses to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees but no immediate reaction should be expected, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
"I cannot give a specific date. Clearly, no one will delay a reaction but it would be stupid to expect a reaction the next day," he said when asked when and how Moscow might publish its response.
Peskov pointed out that it took the US and Europe about a month to study the documents that Russia had presented. "So let’s not expect an immediate reaction from us," the Russian presidential spokesman noted.
In response to a question, if Putin planned to hold any meetings on the issue, Peskov explained that the president held consultations with Security Council members, his aides, and other senior officials when the need arose. Meanwhile, no decision has been made yet on how Moscow will react to the West’s responses to its proposals on security guarantees, the Kremlin spokesman noted. When speaking about the possibility for Russia to give a response publicly, he said that "a separate decision will be made on that."
The United States and NATO handed their written responses to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees over to Moscow on Wednesday. Washington asked Moscow not to make the documents public but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg highlighted their basic provisions. According to their statements, the West declined to provide the concessions that Russia finds crucial but outlined areas for future talks.