State flags of Russia and the United States WASHINGTON, Jan 8 The United States will be pragmatic in its upcoming talks with Russia, a senior State Department official said. Russian proposals prepared for talks with the United States and its allies include NATO's refusal to expand further, including through former Soviet republics. «Our approach to these discussions. will be pragmatic and result-oriented. We believe that there are areas where progress can be made if Moscow is realistic in its approaches. But we cannot be sure of this. This is the nature of diplomacy, «the diplomat said during a telephone briefing ahead of contacts with Russia in a bilateral format, at the sites of NATO and the OSCE. At the same time, she said that some of the Russian proposals are «not viable.» The representative of the State Department added that Moscow knows about the position of Washington, which, according to her, allegedly advocates the inviolability of borders and the right of countries to independently determine their foreign and defense policies. In addition, the representative of the State Department called the media information «inaccurate» about the readiness to discuss with Russia the withdrawal forces from Eastern Europe, and Moscow's call to withdraw nuclear weapons from NATO countries is problematic. 
Pushkov sharply responded to Blinken's words about NATO expansion The diplomat also said that the Russian and American delegations would discuss bilateral issues, leaving broader topics for multilateral formats. In general, she expressed hope that the week of negotiations will be constructive. Next week, Russia and the United States will hold another round of dialogue on strategic stability in Geneva, followed by a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels, and consultations at the Organization for Security and cooperation in Europe. Moscow on December 17 published draft agreements with the United States and agreements with NATO member states, which include, inter alia, provisions on mutual security guarantees in Europe, non-deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles in each other's range further expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance, including at the expense of the former republics of the USSR. The documents were handed over to Washington and its allies. US and Russian Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin also had a 50-minute telephone conversation on December 30. The owner of the White House has clearly stated that the United States does not intend to deploy offensive strike weapons in Ukraine, but has warned of possible sanctions. In turn, Putin noted that in this case, a complete rupture of relations could follow. Vladimir Putin previously emphasized that further expansion of NATO to the east and the deployment of offensive weapons on Ukrainian territory and in countries adjacent to Russia are red lines for Moscow. 
The State Department assessed reports of readiness to discuss with Russia the withdrawal of forces from Europe
