Tom Balmforth and Dmitry Antonov

MOSCOW (Reuters). Russia claimed Thursday that the United States has not shown any willingness to address Moscow’s security concerns, which were raised during the standoff with Ukraine. However, both sides expressed an interest in continuing their dialogue.

Dmitry Peskov of the Kremlin stated that Moscow had deployed troops in Ukraine but would not jump to make conclusions following Washington’s formal response to Russian requests for an overhaul of Europe’s security arrangements after the Cold War.

Describing tensions https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-urges-de-escalation-over-ukraine-offers-russia-diplomatic-path-2022-01-27 on the continent as reminiscent of the Cold War, Peskov said it would take time for Moscow to review Wednesday’s response from Washington. He said that the U.S. statements and NATO’s rejection of Russia’s demands did not provide much reason for optimism.

Peskov claimed that, “Based on yesterday’s comments by our colleagues… it’s clear that, on the main category outlined in those documents… we can not say that our thoughts were taken into consideration or that a willingness was shown to address our concerns.”

He said, “But we won’t rush with our assessment.”

It was clear from the nuanced Kremlin’s reaction that Russia, having gathered tens to thousands of troops near its border with Ukraine and isn’t rejecting NATO or the U.S. responses out of hand, does not close the door on diplomacy.

Peskov’s comment prompted the rise in interest in Ukrainian and Russian dollar bonds.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that there is hope for serious dialogue but it would be limited to secondary issues and not the more fundamental, Russian news agencies reported.

WRITTEN REPONSES

On Wednesday, the NATO and United States announced that they have provided written responses to Moscow’s December proposals.

The NATO must stop any further enlargement and bar Ukraine joining. It also needs to pull back weapons and forces from the eastern European countries it joined after the Cold War.

Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary-of-State, stated Wednesday that Washington is committed to NATO’s “open door” policy. NATO however said it wouldn’t compromise its core principles.

They both stated that they would talk with Russia to discuss arms control and confidence-building measures, as well as limits to the scale and extent of military exercises, in an effort to decrease tensions.

Dmytro Kuneba, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister was visiting Denmark and stated that he believes Russia will continue to be on a diplomatic path with Kyiv as well as other countries for at least two additional weeks.