During a joint press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday that Russia is preparing its response to the U.S. reply to its demand for security guarantees, and that it would be ready soon. “It will be submitted soon, and, of course, we are going to publish this document,” he said. “We have nothing to hide,” (as opposed to the U.S. response to Russia, which it asked be kept secret).
Lavrov also observed that Ukraine dropping its bid to join NATO would go far toward relieving the tension. “I’m convinced that if it happened, many would breathe a sigh of relief, especially in Europe, those who take the signatures under the OSCE documents seriously, and don’t attempt to hide behind them under a covert policy to split Europe, and draw new dividing lines,” he said, commenting on the remarks on Feb. 13 by Ukrainian ambassador to Britain Vadym Prystaiko. Prystaiko had suggested that Kiev could withdraw its objective of NATO membership if it would avert war.
