The United States and Russia will likely hold bilateral talks to discuss Moscow’s latest security proposals next month, a senior U.S. administration official said.
“We will decide on a date together with Russia and we believe that that will take place in January,” Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried said in a call with reporters on December 21.
Donfried said the talks would include NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Russia on December 17 laid out security demands that called for an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and limitations on the alliance’s military activity in Eastern Europe, including cooperation with Ukraine and Georgia.
Donfried’s comments come amid ongoing tensions in Europe over the buildup of as many as 100,000 Russian troops near the border with Ukraine.
Russia denies that it is a prelude to an invasion and says it is Ukraine’s growing relationship with NATO that has caused the tensions.
