US to respond to Russia’s NATO demand ‘next week’

Geneva, SWITZERLAND | EURO NEWS |  The top diplomats from Russia and the US described their talks in Geneva on Friday as “useful” and left the door open for further meetings in the coming weeks.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov told reporters that Washington had agreed to respond to Russia’s demands over NATO positions next week. He, however, refused to characterise Washington’s promise of a written response as a positive step.

“I can’t say whether we are on the right path or not. We will see when we get the American responses,” he said.

Antony Blinken, who described their meeting as a “candid exchange of concerns and ideas”, stressed however that the US intends “not only to respond to the concerns that Russia has raised but to share our concerns, which are many.”

He said the written response would be sent after extensive consultations with allies and added he expects the two sides “to meet again after Russia has had an opportunity to look at this paper and then we’ll see where we go from there.”

“In my meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov today, I stressed that Russia has two choices: Diplomacy and de-escalation or massive costs to Russia. Our strong preference is to pursue the path of diplomacy.”