KIEV (TASS): US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he would not provide Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting in Geneva on Friday with written responses to Russia’s security proposals. The head of the State Department made the corresponding statement on Wednesday at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba in Kiev.
Blinken noted that at the end of a “tense week” of talks, the US expects to “assess the situation.” According to him, “it is also necessary to give the negotiators from Russia time to evaluate the past consultations.” “At the moment, I do not plan to submit any documents,” Blinken said, answering a journalist’s question about whether he plans to present a written response to the proposals of the Russian Federation at a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister.
It is not clear to Washington which Russian security proposals in Europe are central, some of which, according to the US, are “doomed to fail,” Blinken said.
“It is not clear what is or is not the central demand of Russia. They [Russia] have presented a whole range of proposals – some of them are obviously doomed to failure, such as closing the doors of NATO to new members. Other proposals, if they really contribute to strengthening the security of each [ countries] on a reciprocal basis, then we made it clear that we could discuss them,” the head of American diplomacy said.
According to him, the United States intends to continue diplomatic cooperation with the Russian Federation to resolve the situation around Ukraine for as long as they can. “We intend to follow the diplomatic path in negotiations with the Russian Federation for as long as possible,” he said.
At the same time, Blinken expressed the opinion that the choice of further development of events – along the path of escalation or reduction of tension – remains with Russia. “If there is no result, it is only because Russia has chosen a different path,” he added.
The Secretary of State believes that his forthcoming meeting with Lavrov in Geneva shows that the path of diplomacy remains open.
