WASHINGTON, December 29. /TASS/. The Russia-NATO Council will convene on January 12, US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday.

He said that as far as the situation in Ukraine is concerned, Washington and its allies are "unified in our willingness to engage in principled diplomacy with Russia." "This administration’s approach on Ukraine has been clear and consistent. We have sought to unite the alliance between two tracks: deterrence, and diplomacy," he added.

"And so to that end we look forward to engaging with Russia in the Strategic Stability Dialogue on January 10th. Additionally, we understand Russia and NATO are intending to hold a Russia-NATO - NATO-Russia Council meeting on the 12th and that the OSCE is scheduled to meet on the 13th," Price continued.

"We will surely put our concerns on the table. I imagine the Russians will do the same," he said. "There will be areas where we can make progress, areas I’m sure where we will disagree."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Tuesday that Russia-NATO consultations on security guarantees will be held in Brussels after a meeting of Moscow’s and Washington’s representatives in Geneva. NATO’s press service told TASS earlier that Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg came out with an initiative to call a Russia-NATO Council meeting on January 12 when Brussels will host a session of the NATO Military Committee.

On December 17, the Russian foreign ministry released two Russian draft agreements in security guarantees from the United States and NATO. The drafts were handed over to the US side on December 15.