The head of the press service of the US State Department, Ned Price, said that Washington will discuss with Moscow during the Geneva talks with the Russian Federation on security guarantees, which are scheduled for January 10. His words are quoted by TASS.

“With regard to interaction with Russia in the context of a dialogue on strategic stability, we will not discuss issues related to NATO, issues relating exclusively to Europe,” said a spokesman for the State Department.

Price explained that the United States does not want to discuss NATO-related issues with Russia without the presence of Washington's allies at the negotiating table. He added that following the bilateral talks with Moscow, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council, as well as talks between representatives of Russia and the OSCE, will take place in Geneva.

According to him, the parties will touch upon the topics that have already been raised during previous meetings within the framework of the dialogue on strategic stability.

On January 4, NATO confirmed that negotiations with Russia on security guarantees will take place on January 12, 2022. The alliance noted that "the dialogue with Russia should be conducted on the basis of reciprocity, to respond to NATO's concerns about Russian actions."

It was later reported that NATO foreign ministers would hold an emergency videoconference on January 7 to discuss Russia's demands on security assurances.

On December 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry of Russia handed over to the American side drafts of an agreement between Russia and the United States on security guarantees and an agreement on measures to ensure the security of the Russian Federation and the NATO member states. The document, in particular, states that the United States should not create military bases in the territories of the former USSR countries that are not NATO members.

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