WASHINGTON, March 3. /TASS/. The United States is open to hold talks with Russia on various subjects, including security, yet de-escalation in Ukraine is needed in order for diplomacy to work, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told journalists on Wednesday.
He was asked about the prospects of diplomacy with Russia: talks on Ukraine, Iran, arms control, climate and other spheres. "We, of course, remain open to pursuing any reasonable path, but it’s very hard to see any path when the bombs are dropping, the planes are flying, the tanks are rolling. So de-escalation, pulling back forces - that would open a path to diplomacy, and we, I think, demonstrated very clearly in the months leading up to Russia’s aggression that we were prepared to engage Russia diplomatically on any legitimate security concerns on a reciprocal basis that remains," he noted.
In December 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Moscow and Washington on security guarantees and measures for ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. The proposed measures include guarantees that NATO will not advance eastward, and not grant membership to Ukraine and other countries into the US-led bloc, along with the non-deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear ones. At the end of January, the US and NATO handed over their written responses to Russia. According to these statements, the West did not make concessions to Russia considered to be critical, but did indicate directions for further negotiations. Russia noted this in its written reaction published in February.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later that Russian troops were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons.