WASHINGTON, December 24. /TASS/. Washington will not approve Russia’s security proposals related to NATO, but may agree to other initiatives, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has told reporters.
"There have been proposals put forward by the Russians - some we would agree with, some we certainly wouldn’t agree with," she said. Obviously <…> the NATO example is a good example of that."
"NATO is a defensive alliance; it’s not an aggressive alliance. There is no evidence to the contrary - to suggest anything to the contrary from the United States or NATO members," she added.
At the same time, she pointed out that the White House views negotiations as the right path forward in the current situation.
"We also agree diplomatic conversations are the right path forward," she said, adding that the US administration was working "towards diplomatic talks."
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. On December 17, the Russian foreign ministry released two Russian draft agreements in security guarantees from the United States and NATO. They were handed over to the US side on December 15, during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
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.