MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres about Russia’s ongoing negotiations with NATO and OSCE member countries on security guarantees, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday after their online talks.
"The sides exchanged views on a range of current international topics (Syria, Libya, the activities of the UN mission in Kosovo), including in the context of Russia’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council in February. Lavrov informed the United Nations secretary general in detail about the ongoing talks with on security guarantees to Russia with NATO and OSCE member states," the ministry said.
Apart from that, Lavrov drew the attention of the UN chief to the problems the Russian mission to the organization is facing in the United States due to the US side’s non-implementation of its commitments. "Lavrov drew special attention to the problems Russia’s permanent mission to the United States is facing due to the United States’ failure to implement its liabilities under the agreement regarding the UN headquarters in what concerns the return the mission’s official premises blocked by the Americans and the issuance of visas to its employees and members of Russian delegations taking part in the work of the General Assembly and its committees," the ministry said.
The sides stressed the importance of further efforts "to strengthen the United Nations’ central coordinating role in global politics" and reiterated their commitment to the cooperation between Russia and the United Nations.
Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed with Lavrov the United States’ and NATO’s responses to Russia’s proposals on long-term legally binding guarantees of its security. Lavrov informed the president about these responses, noting that NATO and the US gave a negative answer on Russia’s key concerns. He stressed that Moscow cannot be satisfied with these responses. However, in his words, some of the responses are quite constructive. These are concrete measures concerning shorter-and medium-range missiles and a series of proposals on reducing military risks, building up trust and military transparency.
On January 26, the US and NATO handed over written responses to Russia on Moscow’s security guarantees that it was demanding from Washington and Brussels. The American side requested that the documents not be made public, although US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg enumerated their basic provisions. According to these statements, the West did not make concessions to Russia considered to be critical, but did indicate directions for further negotiations.