MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/: Russia is ready for a military response if NATO keeps ignoring Moscow’s security concerns, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday.
"I said that we would find forms to respond, including by military and military-technical means [if NATO ignores Moscow’s concerns again]," the high-ranking Russian diplomat told TASS.
"I reaffirm this. We will have to balance the activities that are of concern to us, because they increase the risks, with our countermeasures," Ryabkov said.
The senior Russian diplomat also stressed that Russia would seek to prevent this scenario and was aware of the need to hold a dialogue to avoid serious implications.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released two Russian draft documents on the provision of legal security guarantees from the United States and NATO.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier called on NATO to begin substantive talks on reliable long-term security guarantees to Russia. He stressed that Russia needs legally binding guarantees because the West has failed to fulfill its verbal commitments.
As Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov told US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that Moscow was ready to immediately begin talks on draft documents on security guarantees. Russia will be represented at these talks by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
