MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Moscow will do its best not to protract talks on European security and to prevent possible worsening of its position during this process, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after talks with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"We have fears that the negotiating process on our security proposals and security issues that are important for us can be protracted by our partners without due reasons and that during this negotiating process certain decisions worsening, in the most serious way, our positions because it has been happening for years," he said.
"Naturally, it is what in focus for us, what we understand and what we will discuss with our partners and what we will not allow to happen," he stressed.
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.
On Monday, Putin discussed with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov the United States’ and NATO’s responses to Russia’s proposals on long-term legally binding guarantees of its security. Lavrov informed the president about these responses, noting that NATO and the US gave a negative answer on Russia’s key concerns. He stressed that Moscow cannot be satisfied with these responses. However, in his words, some of the responses are quite constructive. These are concrete measures concerning shorter-and medium-range missiles and a series of proposals on reducing military risks, building up trust and military transparency.