Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of considering a new attack on Kiev next month. Russia denies it, despite having transferred tens of thousands of troops to concentration posts closer to the border.
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had no leeway to back down in its confrontation with the United States over what Moscow considers unacceptable military aid from Washington to Ukraine, and that it would be forced to respond harshly unless the West abandons its “aggressive line.”
He stated that Moscow wants legally binding security guarantees that certain offensive weapons will not be deployed in Russia’s neighboring countries and for NATO to halt its expansion to the east.
Russia has given Washington a list of detailed security guarantees it wants from the West.
“It has been agreed that early next year the bilateral contacts between the US negotiators and ours will become the first round (of talks),” Lavrov said.
He added that Russia had presented US officials with a document on relations with the United States and that foreign policy aides to Putin and the US president, Joe Biden, they had agreed to continue working.
The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, spoke with his Russian counterpart in the early morning and discussed “issues of interest related to regional security,” the US military said.
“The phone call is a continuation of the communication between both leaders to ensure risk reduction and operational misconfliction. In keeping with past practice, the two have agreed to keep the specific details of their conversation private, “the military added.
On Tuesday, NATO said it would seek meaningful talks with Moscow early next year to address the tensions.
The NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was created in 2002 to facilitate consultations between the Western military alliance and Moscow, but relations are tense and it last met in July 2019.
Source From: Ambito
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