Russia (bbabo.net), - The continued ignorance of Russian security concerns by the West "will have the most serious consequences." First of all, we are talking about the deployment of NATO forces near the Russian borders and the ongoing military development of the United States and its allies on the territory of Ukraine.

Such a warning was voiced by the Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on the results of negotiations between the head of department, Sergei Lavrov, and his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, in Geneva on Friday.

The ministry noted that "this can be avoided if Washington reacts positively to our draft agreements on security guarantees" - the US promised to give a written response next week.

During Friday's meeting, "a thorough exchange of views was held" on guarantees for Russia's security. Lavrov and Blinken "substantially discussed the key provisions" of those draft agreements that were published by the Russian Foreign Ministry in December. Lavrov, as noted in the department, "pointed to the imperative of strict adherence to the cornerstone principle of "indivisibility of security", which is fixed in a number of multilateral documents, including the 1999 Charter for European Security.

A significant part of the meeting was devoted to the situation around Ukraine. "The need for the speedy and full implementation" by Kiev of the "Minsk agreements" was emphasized," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

The Foreign Minister and the Secretary of State discussed the unsatisfactory state of bilateral relations between Russia and the United States. The diplomats agreed to "activate expert work to normalize the functioning of the diplomatic missions of the two countries and stabilize the visa regime." Moscow also demanded the "prompt return" of Russian diplomatic property confiscated by the US authorities.

Lavrov and Blinken also discussed the prospects for restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program.

bbabo.Net