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US, NATO ready to continue reciprocal dialogue with Russia - US State Department

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss next steps following the January 12 NATO-Russia Council

WASHINGTON, January 15. /TASS/. The United States and NATO are ready to continue reciprocal dialogue with Moscow, the US Department of State said in a statement, following a phone talk between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss next steps following the January 12 NATO-Russia Council. The United States and NATO are ready to meet again with Russia and are committed to pursuing continued diplomacy and reciprocal dialogue," US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said in a written statement.

On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a draft agreement on security guarantees between Russia and the United States and a draft agreement on ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. Consultations on the issue took place in Geneva on January 10, followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12 and a session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council in Vienna on January 13.

The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.

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