Lavrov: Russia will respond today to the US on the issue of security guarantees

LAST UPDATE: 12:18

Russia will send a response to the US on the issue of security guarantees on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

“We are completing the analysis of the American letter. I expect that in the near future you will find out how the situation will develop further. At least we will send this letter to the American side today,” Lavrov told a news conference after talks with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi. Di Maio.

Moscow will make the letter public, Lavrov noted. “Of course we will make this letter public. We believe that interested members of civil society in our countries need to have an idea of ​​what is going on. Otherwise, if it remains a secret, as our colleagues in Washington and Brussels prefer, “Public opinion will be flooded with lies and overt propaganda,” he said.

Russia will continue talks with the West on all aspects of its proposals on security guarantees, Lavrov added.

Russia has demanded that Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO, something that Washington and Brussels have so far refused to promise.

The Russian Foreign Minister also stressed that Russia and Belarus will end their joint military exercises on February 20, as previously planned, responding to Western concerns that Russian troops may remain in Belarus for a longer period, Reuters reports.

Asked if the escalation around Ukraine would end on February 20, Lavrov told reporters “I do not know, we are not causing it.”

Separately, the RIA news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov as saying that the issue of extending the stay of Russian troops in Belarus was not under discussion.