Kremlin has not yet received a substantive response from the US on its proposals on security guarantees, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday, TASS reports.
"It is too early to make an assessment. We heard remarks, but citing different sources, on the readiness to hold a discussion and this is, perhaps, a positive factor. Yet there is no substantive answer so far, so it is premature to give assessments," the Kremlin official said.
On December 17, the draft agreements between Russia and the US on security guarantees and the measures of ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states were made public.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged NATO to begin focused talks in order to provide Russia with reliable long-term security guarantees. The Russian head of state specified that Moscow needs written legal guarantees since earlier Western officials did not fulfill their corresponding verbal obligations. According to Peskov, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov stated the readiness of the Russian side to immediately begin talks on drafting documents on security guarantees to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov will represent Russia at these talks.
