MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he hopes a solution to the issue of security guarantees to Russia can ultimately be found but it would take serious efforts.

He expressed hope that dialogue on this topic will be continued. "I hope we will ultimately find a solution. Although it will be quite hard to do, we are fully aware of that. But today I am not ready to say what it can be," he said after talks with visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Oban.

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. The proposed measures include guarantees that NATO will not advance eastward, including the accession of Ukraine and other countries into the alliance, as well as non-deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear ones. The sides have had several rounds of consultations in various formats but no agreements have yet been announced.

On January 26, the US and NATO handed over written responses to Russia on Moscow’s security guarantees that it was demanding from Washington and Brussels. The American side requested that the documents not be made public, although US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg enumerated their basic provisions. According to these statements, the West did not make concessions to Russia considered to be critical, but did indicate directions for further negotiations.