Moscow has begun studying highly-anticipated responses from the United States and NATO to Russia’s sweeping security demands.

In December, after building up troops at the Ukraine border, Russia called on NATO to pull back its forces and weapons from Eastern Europe and permanently block Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from becoming a member.

But in a written response to those demands, delivered in person on Wednesday by the US ambassador in Moscow, Washington repeated its commitment to upholding NATO’s “open-door” policy. Shortly after, NATO, which is led by the US, said it had delivered its own reply “in parallel with the United States”.

On Thursday, as the papers were handed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was “no positive response to the main question”, referring to the potential for Ukraine to join the alliance.

But “there is a response which gives hope for the start of a serious conversation on secondary questions”, he said in a statement.

Source: Al-Manar English Website