Moscow Cannot Accept Joint Response on Security Guarantees, Russian Foreign Ministry Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow cannot accept a joint response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s letter regarding the principle of the indivisibility of security, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

"We cannot accept a 'collective' response, reminiscent of 'mutual responsibility.' We look forward to a detailed response to our question from each addressee. Dodging the answer means that the West does not want to recognize the commitments taken through the OSCE and Russia-NATO [Council] and is trying to take care of its security at our expense," Zakharova said in a statement.

Instead, the EU and NATO propose another round of talks on indivisible security in Europe, she said, noting that such a position is unacceptable.

In late January, Lavrov sent the letters to the foreign ministers of 37 countries of Europe and North America. On Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sent what they presented as a response to Lavrov's letters, the diplomat said, noting there was no substantive reaction in the EU and NATO responses on the question of indivisible security.

Moscow published its security suggestions for NATO and the United States in late 2021 as tensions rose around Ukraine. Moscow specifically requested guarantees that NATO would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia, to which Washington has replied by insisting it will not allow anyone to slam NATO's open-door policy shut. The US and NATO have submitted their responses to the proposals, which Moscow is still analyzing before deciding on the next step.