MOSCOW, February 14./TASS/. Western countries’ hysteria over military exercises held by Russia is hyped up, the exercises will end in accordance with the schedule, Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said on Monday.
"The following is obvious - the military exercises will end as planned, there are no military preparations, while hysteria about this has a purely artificial nature," Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page in comments on Russian president’s meetings with the foreign and defense ministers on Monday.
According to him, the Russian security guarantee initiatives have already had their role, ‘shaking up’ Western partners, "making them comprehend the situation as a whole, not just its individual segments that are more advantageous for the West".
Kosachev also noted that "for all the differences that emerged in the approaches of the parties," the reaction from the US and NATO to the Russian proposals "gives grounds to expect the start of negotiations on a number of concrete dossiers, which would have a favorable effect on the situation overall".
Russia is not going to withdraw from the agenda the initiatives regarding NATO’s non-expansion and non-deployment of arms in the east of Europe, "but this fundamental stance will not be an obstacle to the talks in general," he blogged. "However, it is already obvious that there won’t be endless negotiations, and progress in details will depend on the reaction to our ideas in general," the legislator said.