The US Secretary of State stressed that all “responses were fully coordinated with Ukraine.”Washington hopes that Putin himself will read the US response, the media wrote / photo REUTERS

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington would not publish its  written response to the Kremlin’s “security guarantees” and urged Russian diplomats not to do so either.

He stated this at a briefing at the State Department on January 26.

This was preceded by a message about the transfer by the US Ambassador of a written response from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Blinken elaborated that the written response set out “a serious diplomatic path forward, if Russia chooses to do so.” He also added that he would discuss the submitted proposals with the leaders of the Congress.

The US Secretary of State stressed that all “responses were fully coordinated with Ukraine and European allies and partners.”

“We do not publish this document because we believe that diplomacy has the best chance of success if we create conditions for confidential negotiations. We hope and expect that Russia will adhere to the same point of view and take our proposal seriously,” Blinken said. .

This was preceded by a series of meetings between representatives of the Russian Federation and NATO regarding the policy of membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

As a result of negotiations in January, NATO members rejected the Kremlin’s ultimatum.

Meanwhile, the US and the EU are working on tools to influence the Russian Federation, which has concentrated a 100,000-strong army around Ukraine and, according to intelligence estimates, may try to launch a new offensive in February 2022.

At the same time, Russian officials are publicly threatening a “difficult story” for Europe if their “guarantees” are not met.

Vladimir Putin called Ukraine’s entry into NATO “red lines” because, in his opinion, this could threaten Russa’s national security. Although the EU and the US have repeatedly stressed that Kiev does not pose a threat to the Russian Federation, and called on Moscow to de-escalate.

US will not publish its response to Russia’s “security guarantees” – Blinken

(C)UNIAN 2020