EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. File photoBRUSSELS, Jan 15Head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed by phone on Saturday the dialogue with Russia and the situation around Ukraine, reaffirmed their intention to act as a «united front,» the EU Foreign Service said in a statement. «Close coordination between the EU and the US on recent events, connected with Russia and Ukraine continues at the highest level,» Blinken and Borrell also said that «the EU and the US intend to continue intensive consultations on these and other issues, presenting a strong, clear and united transatlantic front.» In doing so, they expressed their readiness for dialogue with Russia, but «not to the detriment of the freedom, sovereignty, independence of the members of the transatlantic community and their partners.»US and EU Discuss Contacts on Russia's Proposed Security MechanismsOn Monday, Russia and the US held a new round of dialogue on strategic stability in Geneva. It was followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels. It was followed on Thursday by consultations at the Vienna site of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The main focus of these discussions was the security proposals that the Russian side presented to the US and NATO at the end of last year. At the end of 2021, Russia published drafts of a treaty with the US and an agreement with NATO on security guarantees. Moscow, in particular, demands from its Western partners legal guarantees of refusing further expansion of NATO to the east, from joining the bloc of Ukraine and from creating military bases in post-Soviet countries. Russia is now the main adversary of NATO only because it tries to firmly defend its interests. The Russian diplomat also said that the US and its allies are saying «no» to Russia on key points in Russian security proposals. 43InfographicDraft NATO-Russia Security Assurance AgreementInfographicView
