MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Washington’s replies on security guarantees reveal no indication that it sees the main issue of NATO’s further expansion as being unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"There is no positive reaction in this document on the main issue. The main issue is our clear-cut position on the inadmissibility of NATO’s further eastward expansion and the deployment of strike armaments that may threaten the territory of the Russian Federation," Russia’s top diplomat said.

The US response on security guarantees makes it possible to expect a serious conversation to begin but on secondary issues, Lavrov pointed out.

"As for the contents of the document, it contains a reaction, which makes it possible to expect the commencement of a serious talk but on secondary issues," the Russian foreign minister said.

Russia’s top diplomat said he was confident that Washington’s response to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees would become known to the public at large in the near future.

"I think that the substance of the reply will become known to the public at large shortly. As our American counterparts told us (although they prefer this document to remain confidential for a diplomatic dialogue), it had been agreed with all of the US allies and the Ukrainian side. There are no doubts that it will be ‘leaked’ very soon," Russia’s top diplomat said.

NATO’s crafty stance

Russia will put the emphasis on explaining the West’s crafty claims it is allegedly impossible to guarantee NATO’s non-expansion, Lavrov stressed.

"We were told [concerning the admission of new members to the military alliance] that in the 1990s there were no written guarantees regarding NATO’s non-expansion, whereas now we do have such written pledges. They were confirmed within the OSCE framework more than once, including at the summit level. Now we will put the emphasis on explaining this crafty stance taken by our Western counterparts," Lavrov said.

When presented with Russia’s arguments on their pledges to halt NATO’s eastward expansion, the Western countries began to explain their policy towards the alliance’s careless expansion not quite in ‘an adult way,’" the Russian foreign minister pointed out.

"Now that we present not verbal pledges but written documents signed by the leaders of all the countries - parties to the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe], including the US president - and these are the 1999 Istanbul Declaration and the 2010 Astana Declaration - our Western counterparts have to find crafty ways out of a more serious situation," he added.

"Under these documents, the right to choose unions "is clearly conditioned by the need to take into account the security interests of any other OSCE member state, including the Russian Federation," Lavrov pointed out.

With regard to the issue of NATO’s non-expansion, the West deliberately hushes up the principle, which stipulates that a state cannot strengthen its security at the expense of the security of other states, Russia’s top diplomat said.

"Our Western partners do not mention either the Istanbul or the Astana declaration in ongoing discussions on European security. These items are sidestepped. However, we cannot accept this," Lavrov said.

As Russia’s top diplomat pointed out, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave no reply to his request at the Geneva negotiations on January 21 to explain the grounds, on which the Western countries "considered the commitments assumed within the OSCE solely as a ‘menu."

"I warned him and also our other counterparts that we would shortly send them an official inquiry with a demand to explain why they pull out only one point from their own obligations while they are trying to ignore the terms of complying with this favorite point for them," Lavrov said.

"This will be an official inquiry to all the countries whose leaders signed the Istanbul and Astana declarations. I hope that in this case no extra time will be required to explain why the West holds precisely this stance," Russia’s top diplomat said.

Russia’s proposals on security guarantees

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published Russia’s two draft agreements on security guarantees, which Moscow expects from Washington and NATO. The agreements with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stipulate, among other things, the US-led bloc abandoning its designs on eastward expansion along with denying membership to Ukraine, in addition to restrictions on deploying serious offensive armaments, in particular, nuclear weapons. The sides have already held several rounds of consultations in various formats but have not announced any agreements reached yet.

On January 26, the United States and NATO handed over their written reply to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees.