BRUSSELS, January 7. /TASS/: Top diplomats of the NATO member nations have called for dialogue, diplomacy and de-escalation in relations with Russia ahead of a NATO-Russia Council meeting on January 12, the US mission to NATO said on Friday after an emergency videoconference of NATO top diplomats.
"Ahead of the forthcoming NATO - Russia Council, they underlined the need for diplomacy, dialogue, & de-escalation," the mission wrote on its Twitter account. "Foreign Ministers of all NATO ally countries reaffirmed our unity in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine at today’s extraordinary session."
A diplomatic source in the mission of one of European countries told TASS earlier that Friday’s videoconference was geared to discuss a common position within the upcoming US-Russian talks on European security and in the context of the Russia-NATO Council meeting on January 12.
In the early hours on December 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a 50-minute phone conversation with his US counterpart Joe Biden. Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told journalists that the Kremlin was satisfied with the conversation which generally was constructive. According to him, the upcoming talks on security guarantees were the main subject and both leaders agreed to control them personally and maintain phone contacts.
Moscow hopes that the negotiations with the US will yield legal guarantees that NATO will refrain from advancing eastward and deploying offensive weapons near Russia’s borders, and Ushakov said that the US president had agreed with this point of view. The Russian president warned that potential new sanctions against Russia could result in a complete breakdown in its relations with the US and inflict serious damage on its ties with the West in general.
On January 10, Geneva is hosting Russian-US talks on security guarantees. On January 12, Russia will discuss its concerns in the security sphere in Europe as well as the Russian projects on security guarantees at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels and on January 13 - at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.
On December 17, 2021 the Russian Foreign Ministry published the draft agreements between Moscow and Washington on security guarantees and the measures of ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. These drafts were submitted to Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried on December 15.
