LONDON, December 23. /TASS/. The United Kingdom welcomes Russia’s signals about its willingness to begin talks to ease tension around Ukraine, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement on Thursday.

"The only way out of the current situation for Russia is through dialogue and I welcome the fact that Russia has signalled it is willing to enter talks in January," she said, adding that the Russian government should "de-escalate its activities and engage in serious discussions."

At the same time, she condemned Russia’s "aggressive and inflammatory rhetoric against Ukraine and NATO." "NATO is a defensive alliance and Ukraine continues to show commendable restraint in the face of Russian provocation and aggression," she noted.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on NATO to begin substantive talks on reliable long-term security guarantees to Russia. He stressed that Russia needs legally binding guarantees because the West has failed to fulfill its verbal commitments. Speaking at Thursday’s year-end news conference, Putin stressed that NATO must stop its eastwards expansion, first of all to Ukraine.

On December 17, the Russian foreign ministry released two Russian draft agreements in security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that Moscow was ready to begin talks on draft documents on security guarantees.