The Biden administration has seen Russia's newly unveiled proposals for European security but will not hold any talks on the ideas until it consults with its European allies, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.
"We have seen the Russian proposals, we're discussing them with our European allies and partners," Psaki said when asked for a reaction to Russia's readiness to hold talks on the ideas as early as Saturday. "I will note that there will be no talks on European security without our European allies and partners."
Psaki referred to the North Atlantic Council's position that any dialogue with Russia would have to proceed on the basis of reciprocity and address NATO's concerns. These conversations should be based on the core principal and foundational documents of European security, she added.
"We will not compromise the key principles on which European security is built, including that all countries have the right to decide their own future," Psaki said.
The West and Russia have been discussing strategic concerns for decades, involving many different levels of communication, she noted.
"There is no reason we cannot do that moving forward to reduce instability, but we are going to do that in partnership and coordination with our allies and partners," Psaki said.
Earlier in the day, Russia released its draft proposals on security guarantees. They suggest in particular that NATO should commit to not expanding further, including Ukraine, and must abandon military activity in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Another provision says that Russia and NATO should not deploy intermediate- and short-range missiles in areas from where they can hit each other's territory. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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