BRUSSELS, January 10. /TASS/. The upcoming talks between Russia and the Western countries will not resolve all security problems but may give an impetus to consultations on a treaty to prevent future conflicts in Europe, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

He welcomed this week’s talks, including the ones between the United States and Russia held in Geneva today, a Russia-NATO Council meeting on January 12, and an OSCE meeting in Vienna on January 13. "But I don’t think we can expect that these meetings will solve all issues. What we are hoping for is that we can agree on a way forward, that we can agree on a series of meetings, that we can agree on a process," he said, adding that it would be unrealistic to expect that all the problems could be resolved after the talks.

"But I really think that there is a real will on both sides, including on the Russian side and on the NATO side to engage in a process that can prevent a new armed conflict in Europe," he stressed.

He noted that he had had talks with Russia as Norway’s prime minister and he was convinced that an agreement with Russia is possible. He promised that NATO will do its best to find a diplomatic way and hailed Russia’s readiness for security dialogue. "We will listen to Russia’s concerns, but any meaningful dialogue must also address our concerns about Russia’s actions," he noted.

"We will focus on European security issues, transparency related to military activities, risk reduction, and arms control," Stoltenberg said, not mentioning Ukraine however, which was originally declared as a central topic of the meeting.

The activities of the Russia-NATO Council have been practically stalled at the Alliance’s initiative, with the latest meeting being held back in July 2019. In October 2020, NATO announced the reduction of the Russian mission, the third one since 2014. In response, Russia was forced to shut down its mission and expel NATO’s mission from Moscow. Despite that, the NATO Secretary General said that the NATO-Russia Council is a good format for security talks with Russia, which are especially important in the current conditions.

According to Stoltenberg, along with the talks with Russia, the alliance will continue consultations with the European Union and its partner nations: Sweden, Finland, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. He repeated allegations that Russia is building up its forces near the border with Ukraine and warned that NATO nations would impose further sanctions in case of Russia’s "aggression" against Ukraine.

Apart from that, he promised political and technical assistance to Ukraine but did not answer Ukrainian journalists who asked when their country would receive a plan of action for NATO membership.

Talks on European security

In the early hours on December 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a 50-minute phone conversation with his US counterpart Joe Biden. Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told journalists that the Kremlin was satisfied with the conversation, which generally was constructive. According to him, the upcoming talks on security guarantees were the main subject and both leaders agreed to control them personally and maintain phone contacts.

Moscow hopes that the negotiations with the US will yield legal guarantees that NATO will refrain from advancing eastward and deploy offensive weapons near Russia’s borders, and Ushakov said that the US president had agreed with this point of view. The Russian president warned that potential new sanctions against Russia could result in a complete breakdown in its relations with the US and inflict serious damage on its ties with the West in general.

On January 10, Geneva is hosting Russian-US talks on security guarantees. On January 12, Russia will discuss its concerns in the security sphere in Europe as well as the Russian projects on security guarantees at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels and on January 13 - at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the draft agreements between Moscow and Washington on security guarantees and measures of ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. These drafts were submitted to Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried on December 15.