Moscow is disappointed with the reaction that the West has shown to Russia's proposals for security guarantees in Europe, Russia's Ambassador to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said following the results of the OSCE meeting held on January 13.
"I want to say right away that we didn't hear an adequate response or any kind of reaction to our proposals from our partners. Everything revolved around their concerns and Russia's allegedly aggressive behavior, especially in the context of the Ukrainian events,” Lukashevich said.
Instead of the constructive discussion, Western officials called into question OSCE's principles of indivisibility of security. According to Lukashevich, his partners claimed during the talks that no one could influence the choice of the security system of this or that state.
Speaking at today's OSCE meeting, Lukashevich said that he could see signs of systemic degradation in the OSCE. The Russian diplomat blamed the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance for such a state of affairs.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic would like to have peaceful and correct relations with Moscow.
"I believe that diplomatic negotiations will lead to a de-escalation of the current crisis on the borders of Ukraine,” Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová said commenting on the recent negotiations between Russia and NATO. At the same time, she stressed that NATO countries must be prepared for any scenario, including an armed conflict.
Jan Havránek, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic, stressed that the relations between Russia and the West reached their lowest point since the Cold War.
"We cannot silently accept Russia's aggressive behavior in relation to Ukraine, our partner, nor can we take the military buildup on the border with Ukraine,” he said. According to the politician, the security of all of Europe depends on the security of Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said that the draft bill about a new package of US sanctions against Russia, which could affect not only high-ranking officials, but also Nord Stream 2, was a nervous breakdown that American officials had.
"In their endless assertion of their own greatness, people have reached a psychological mark that is difficult to explain,” Sergei Lavrov concluded.
While the United States flatly refuses to listen to Russia, Russia refuses to listen to the United States as well. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, Russia will not even discuss the requirement of the United States to send the troops back to the barracks inside the country.
Such a requirement from Washington is unacceptable, he said.
"Now they talk not only about the need to pull back the troops from the border with Ukraine, as they say, but they also want our troops be sent back to the barracks. This is what Sherman (Wendy Sherman, US Deputy Secretary of State — ed.) said, including publicly at a press conference. I don't think there is a need to explain that such a requirement is completely unacceptable. Of course, we are not going to discuss that," Lavrov said.
Lavrov also assessed the talks between Russia and NATO on January 12 in Brussels were held in businesslike fashion.
"I can confirm what we said: the negotiations were business-like. The position of the West is quite tough, arrogant at some point, uncompromising, but it was nevertheless explained calmly, in a businesslike manner,” the minister said.
In his opinion, such an approach to the negotiations means that the United States will think about them.