The day before, Washington and Brussels sent a written response to Moscow's proposals.
"There is no positive reaction on the main issue in this document. The main issue is our clear position on the inadmissibility of further expansion of NATO to the east and the deployment of strike weapons that could threaten the territory of the Russian Federation," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
At the same time, the Foreign Minister stressed that the United States deliberately ignores the principle of indivisibility of security, when the peaceful existence of one state cannot be achieved by creating a threat to another.
"It is significant that now, when our Western colleagues react to our proposals to agree on legally binding guarantees in the Euro-Atlantic, they always call for the implementation of the agreed principles concerning the security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic. They immediately say: this means that NATO has the right to expand, no one has the right to prohibit NATO members from considering appeals from any other country," Lavrov said.
The minister added that Moscow intends to continue to focus on explaining Washington's false position on the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance.
"If the 1990s were explained to us by the lack of written commitments on non-expansion of NATO. Now we have these written commitments. They have been confirmed within the OSCE more than once, including at the highest level," he said.
Commitments are not a menu
Lavrov also called unacceptable the position of the United States, which considers the commitments made within the OSCE exclusively as a menu from which they choose only what is "delicious" for them. The Foreign Minister added that he had pointed this out to his American counterpart Anthony Blinken, but he did not answer and only shrugged his shoulders.
"I warned him, as well as our other colleagues, that in the very near future we will send them an official request demanding to explain why they are pulling only one item out of their own obligations, and they are trying to ignore the conditions of compliance with this beloved item for them. This will be an official request to all countries whose leaders signed the Istanbul and Astana Declarations. I hope that in this case it will not take much time to explain why the West takes this position," the minister promised.
The head of Russian diplomacy stressed that Moscow will consider Washington's response to the proposals on security guarantees in conjunction with the reaction of NATO, which was received at the same time.
Possible leakage
Lavrov added that, apparently, the contents of the US response will soon become known to the public.
"As our American colleagues have told us, although they prefer that the document remain for confidential diplomatic dialogue, but it has been agreed with all US allies and with the Ukrainian side. Therefore, I have no doubt that it will "leak" in the very near future—" he noted.
Exactly how Moscow will react to Washington's actions, according to Lavrov, will be determined personally by Vladimir Putin.
"After the interdepartmental coordination, we will report to the president, and the president will decide on our next steps," the minister stressed.
The Ukrainian issue and negotiations with the West
In recent months, relations between Russia and the West have become even more tense. Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of preparing an "invasion" of Ukraine and are strengthening their presence in Eastern Europe.
The United States told about the content of the responses to Russia's demands
Moscow rejects all claims, emphasizing that they are moving troops within their territories. The Russian side also recalls that Ukraine does not comply with the Minsk agreements providing for a ceasefire. Now Kiev has concentrated half of the army personnel on the border with the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR and regularly fires at the militia, including with the use of prohibited equipment.
The Kremlin and the Foreign Ministry have repeatedly pointed out that the purpose of the "aggression" stuffing is to build up a foreign group near the Russian borders. They also explained that the main reason for the escalation is the actions of the United States and NATO, which are "pumping" Ukraine with weapons, thereby pushing it to military adventures.
At these condition, at the end of last year, Moscow handed over to Brussels and Washington draft documents on security guarantees. Russia insists on ending the bloc's military cooperation with post-soviet countries, refusing to establish bases on their territory, limiting the deployment of strike weapons near the Russian border, exporting American nuclear weapons from Europe and not expanding NATO to the east.