Russia and the United States are set to hold talks on strategic stability in Geneva, Switzerland on 10 January, followed by a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels on 12 January and consultations within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on 13 January.
Russia will not give in to US pressure or make any concessions ahead of the Geneva talks set for 10 January, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov has told Sputnik.
"We will, of course, make no concessions under the constant pressure and threats coming from the Western side of the upcoming negotiations," Ryabkov said, adding concessions under duress were "entirely impossible."
The Russian diplomat stressed that Moscow is "very disappointed" by signals from Washington and Brussels ahead of the meeting on the security guarantees proposed by Russia last month.
“In a nutshell, they reflect a lack of understanding of what we need. And we need legal guarantees, legal guarantees that NATO will not expand further; elimination of everything that the alliance has created driven by anti-Russian phobias and all sorts of misconceptions about the essence of Russian policy since 1997," Ryabkov explained.
The deputy foreign minister lamented the fact that the United States is continuing to insist that Moscow make unilateral concessions, and said that Russia is not optimistic about the forthcoming talks.
The unilateral approach promoted by the US and NATO cannot serve as a basis for the discussion on security guarantees, Ryabkov added.
He stressed that Moscow's main goal in Geneva is to discuss the non-expansion of NATO and the non-deployment of offensive weapons near Russia's borders.
RHM/PR