MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. New talks with the United States and NATO on Russia’s proposed security guarantees may be desirable again, but it is highly unlikely to hold them in the previous format, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
"Of course, the negotiations may be desirable again, because the situation has drastically changed. New details and emphasis emerged," Peskov told a news briefing in response to a question whether talks on Russia’s security guarantees should be closed or resumed.
Peskov stated that it may be necessary to reshape the format of the negotiations adding "They [the talks] are certainly highly unlikely to be resumed in their previous format."
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said last Saturday that the previously proposed security guarantees to the United States and NATO were no longer valid because the situation has changed drastically.
On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry published Russia’s two draft agreements on security guarantees, which Moscow expected from Washington and NATO.
On January 26, the United States and NATO handed over their written reply to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees. The US side requested that the texts of these documents should not be published. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg outlined their basic provisions. These statements suggest that the West has refused to make concessions fundamental for Moscow, but indicated areas for further negotiations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories and the operation was aimed at demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine.
When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.