The Russian Foreign Ministry reported this morning that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried met with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov for 40 minutes. “The sides held a substantive discussion of the issues of security guarantees in the light of the incessant attempts by the United States and NATO to change the military and political situation in Europe in their favor,” the ministry said in a statement reported by TASS.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed during a Dec. 15 briefing that Ryabkov handed over to Donfried hard copies of Russia’s initiatives on security, as already described by President Putin and in Foreign Ministry statements. “Today, these proposals were described on paper and officially handed over to the U.S. partners. We are in contact with them,” she said. She also announced that Ryabkov was going to hold a briefing on Dec. 17, during which he would elaborate on the efforts made in this direction.
