WASHINGTON, December 23. /TASS/. The United States will never agree to some Russian security proposals, but in general, is ready to engage in talks with Moscow through multiple channels as soon as early January, a senior administration official said at a briefing on Russia held via teleconference on Thursday.
"The US is ready to engage in diplomacy as soon as early January through multiple channels: bilaterally, through the Strategic Stability Dialogue we have with Russia, and, multilaterally, through the NATO-Russia Council and the OSCE," the official said.
According to the official, Washington has "taken note of the concerns that Russia has raised both privately and in public, and [we] want to reiterate that any dialogue must be based on reciprocity, meaning that we have our own concerns to put on the table, and any dialogue must also take place in full coordination with our partners and allies."
He pointed out that Washington has no plans to negotiate Russia’s security proposals in public, as the US does not consider it constructive.
"We are not going to respond to every proposal or comment that is made, including from the Russian President," he said adding, "And I think, you know, our approach is understood to the Russians in this regard."
The official stressed that "there are some issues that Russia has raised that we believe we can discuss and others that they know very well we will never agree to."
He believes that "substantive progress in these talks can only be made in an environment of de-escalation, not escalation."
The senior official noted that Washington welcomed the statement of the Contact Group negotiating settlement in eastern Ukraine about the return to ceasefire in Donbass.
"But our concern is with actions, not just words, so we will continue to monitor events on and around the border very closely," the senior administration official said.
Russia’s proposals
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released draft agreements on legally-binding security guarantees on the part of the United States and NATO. It was reported that Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov informed White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan of Moscow’s readiness to immediately launch talks on the draft agreements on security guarantees. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov will represent Russia at the negotiations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier called on NATO to launch substantive negotiations in order to provide Russia with reliable and long-term security guarantees. The head of state specified that Russia was seeking legal and judicial guarantees because the West had earlier failed to keep its verbal promises.