Russia-NATO Dialogue Out of the Question at This Point — Russian Source

Moscow has no plans to go back to last year’s initiatives on security guarantees, the source says

© AP Photo/Olivier Matthys

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Dialogue between Russia and NATO is out of the question amid the current developments, a source in Moscow told TASS.

"Any dialogue with NATO as an organization is out of the question now, given the current developments," the source said.

"It’s to the point that when representatives of NATO as an organization appear at universal international platforms, we will demand that they should not be there," he said, adding that an exception could only be made for specific platforms such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Forum for Security Cooperation.

Security initiatives

According to the source, Russia "should not be expected" to make "a conceptual return" to the proposals on security guarantees that it sent to the United States and NATO a year ago.

"We won’t be the ones to do it," he noted. "The reason is that if we do, the need will arise to update the position, which cannot be updated because everything depends on how the situation on the ground unfolds during the special military operation," the source explained.

Macron’s words about guarantees to Moscow

There is nothing behind French President Emmanuel Macron’s words about the need to provide security guarantees to Moscow, a Russian source told TASS.

"I’m sure that there is nothing behind it. It’s nothing but an attempt to prove himself. There is no clear position and counterproposals behind it," the source said. According to him, there is no reason to expect anyone to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine because it’s not about "conveying any signals" but the problem is that the positions of the parties are incompatible.

Macron said following a visit to the US that the future European security architecture should include guarantees for Russia.