MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) - Russia stands ready for negotiations with the United States and NATO on intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, but only in a package with Moscow's priority preconditions; however, the West does not seem to be prepared to accept these initiatives for now, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"As I've said before, unfortunately, the U.S. and other members of the alliance are not disposed to properly accept these three key elements of our initiatives. At the same time, they've formulated a number of ideas on European security, intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, and military transparency, which Russia wouldn't mind discussing," Putin said at a press conference following negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
"And we are prepared to follow a negotiating track, on the condition that all aspects are considered in a package, not separately from Russia's principal proposals, whose implementation is an unconditional priority for us," he said.
Putin said he informed Lukashenko of Russia's negotiations with the West on security guarantees.