WASHINGTON, December 17. /TASS/. The US won’t hold talks on European security without its European partners, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said aboard Air Force One.
She was commenting on the publication by the Russian Foreign Ministry of draft agreements between Russia, US and NATO on security guarantees in Europe.
"There will be no talks on European security without our European allies and partners," Psaki said. "We will not compromise the key principles on which European security is built, including that all countries have the right to decide their own future and foreign policy, free from outside interference."
She said US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried earlier this week discussed these issues with US allies in NATO in Brussels. Also, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday spoke by phone with the Bucharest Nine group (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia) about the issue.
On Friday, Russia released draft agreements titled the Treaty Between the US and Russia on Security Guarantees and On Measures to Ensure the Security of the Russian Federation and Member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The proposals were handed over to a US representative at a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry on December 15.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier called on NATO to start substantive talks to give Russia reliable and long-term security guarantees. The guarantees will need to be legally binding because, Putin said, the West had walked back on their previous verbal commitments.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told Sullivan that Russia was ready for an immediate start of the talks about the proposed agreements on security guarantees. Russia would be represented in the talks by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.