Moscow expects that Friday’s talks in Geneva will help Washington prepare specific responses to all of Russia’s proposals on security guarantees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“When you called me on the phone and suggested that we should meet so that you could get clarification of our concerns, we thought that it was a fruitful idea because we expect that it [the meeting] will help you prepare specific responses to all of our proposals and put forward your own proposals if you have any,” Lavrov noted.

The US-initiated phone call took place on January 18, with Lavrov and Blinken discussing the prospects for contacts in the near future.

On December 17, 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. Consultations on the 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.

Source: Agencies