Russia to make serious political decisions, if US reply is disappointing — senior diplomat

Ryabkov

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/: Russia will make serious political decisions, if the US reply to Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees is disappointing, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in a live broadcast on the Rossiya-24 TV Channel on Friday.

"There is no formal and written reply from the United States and NATO to our proposals yet. If this reply is disappointing, we will have to make serious political decisions, about which our president warned the opponents from the other side, including publicly," the senior Russian diplomat said.

"But the role of diplomacy, in any case, is central," Ryabkov added. "We do not want a conflict, do not attack anyone and do not threaten anyone. We want to reliably secure our interests," the high-ranking Russian diplomat said.

On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a draft agreement on security guarantees between Russia and the United States and a draft agreement on ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. The Russia-US consultations on this issue took place in Geneva on January 10, followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12 and a session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council in Vienna on January 13.