Moscow considering NATO proposal to begin talks on Russia’s security concerns: Foreign Ministry

Moscow is reportedly “considering” a proposal by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to begin talks on Russia’s security concerns on January 12 after the Kremlin said it needs an “immediate” response from the US and its allies to the Kremlin’s demands for security guarantees.

“We have already received this (NATO) offer, and we are considering it,” TASS news agency quoted Russia’s Foreign Ministry as saying on Sunday.

“The time, modalities, format and makeup of the delegation are being considered,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS.

He further said that Moscow believes it is essential that top military commanders take part in the NATO-Russia Council “because the matter is about military security issues.”

On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also confirmed that Moscow had received and was considering an offer from Brussels to convene the NATO-Russia Council. 

Dragging Ukraine into NATO poses unacceptable threats to Russia: Lavrov

Moscow says the United States

Russia and the US-led NATO have recently been at odds over Ukraine. Kiev, along with Western countries, accuses Moscow of preparing for an invasion of Ukraine by amassing troops and armaments near the border with that country.

Moscow says it is free to move its military within its borders and that it is taking precautionary steps because of increased NATO activity near its territory.

Russia also denies preparing to wage a war on Ukraine and says it wants legal guarantees over its security from the US and NATO, demanding that the alliance stop further eastward expansion.

Last week, the Kremlin presented the West with comprehensive security demands in two draft documents, one sent to NATO and another to Washington, with Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday saying that he wanted to avoid conflict but needed an “immediate” response from Washington and its allies to the Kremlin’s demands for security guarantees.

He also said that the US response to Russia’s proposals for security guarantees has so far been generally positive.

Putin: Russia wants to avoid conflict with West over Ukraine, but demands immediate security guarantees

The Russia president says Moscow wants no conflict with the West over Ukraine, but it demands security guarantees.

This is while that US President Joe Biden’s administration has said a number of Russia's security proposals are obviously unacceptable, but that the US will respond with more concrete ideas on the format of any talks.

The security guarantees Russia demands from the US and NATO include a pledge not to carry out NATO military activity in Eastern Europe, arguing that its security is threatened by Ukraine’s growing ties with the US-led military bloc as well as the possibility of NATO missiles being deployed against the Russian Federation on the Ukrainian territory.

The recent developments come as soaring tensions over Ukraine have brought East-West relations to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War era and dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Separately on Sunday, TASS quoting the NATO’s press service as saying that, “The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on 12 January 2022 in his capacity as the Chair of the NATO-Russia Council.”

It added that the US-led military alliance is “in contact with Russia as regards the meeting.”

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