WASHINGTON, January 26. /TASS/. The US administration has informed the Ukrainian authorities on its written response to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees, taking Kiev’s position into consideration as well, US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price told a press briefing on Tuesday.
Asked whether the Ukrainian officials were consulted about what this response was going to be, he said: "Yes. <...> We have been consulting extensively with our allies and our partners, and of course when it comes to the latter category, that includes Ukraine. We have not only informed them and given them a preview of what will be in this report, but we have actually explicitly solicited their feedback and incorporated that feedback into our report."
"If any Russian forces move across the Ukrainian border, if there is a renewed invasion, it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response not only from the United States, but also from our allies and partners," the diplomat added.
Concerns over Moscow's alleged preparations for an invasion into Ukraine have been increasingly announced in the west and in Kiev recently. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these statements as an empty and groundless escalation of tension, emphasizing that Russia posed no threat to anyone. At the same time, the Kremlin press secretary did not exclude some possible provocations to justify such claims and warned that the attempts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict by force would carry extremely serious consequences.
In December, Russia issued legally binding drafts on mutual security guarantees with the US and NATO due to the ongoing "military development" of Ukrainian territory by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to Moscow. The sides held several rounds of talks, including a personal meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where the Russian top diplomat reiterated that Moscow had no intention of attacking Ukraine.