MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the U.S. and NATO responses to Russia's proposals on security guarantees have a number of considerations that Moscow has offered in previous years and stands ready to discuss now.
"I reiterate that the responses we received from the United States and other NATO countries to our proposals on security guarantees, in our opinion, do not meet the three basic Russian requirements. However, the responses we have received, nevertheless, include, as the Russian foreign minister reported to me yesterday, a number of considerations which we not only do not mind discussing, but, in fact, we proposed them to our partners in previous years - on European security, on certain weapon systems, we mean shorter- and intermediate-range missiles, and military transparency," Putin said at a press conference following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow on Tuesday.
"We stand ready to continue this joint work. We are also willing to proceed along the negotiating track, but all issues, as it was stated earlier, should be considered in their entirety, without separating them from the main Russian proposals, the implementation of which is an unconditional priority," the Russian president said.
As for the proposals that have come from the U.S. and its allies regarding Moscow's demands for security guarantees, the Russian president said, "We assume that even in those documents that have been sent to us by our partners from NATO and Washington, there are some elements that can be discussed,"
"But we are ready to do this only in combination with those fundamental issues that are of paramount importance to us," the head of state said.
According to Putin, he also told the German chancellor, "The dialogue will unfold in this way." "Depending on how it develops, the situation on all the other tracks, which you and we are concerned about, will also unfold. And we are as concerned as you are, I assure you," the head of state added.