Thomas GremingerGENEVA, Feb 1, by Elizaveta Isakova.The start of negotiations between Russia and the United States on arms control issues could lead to the guarantees that Moscow wants to receive, director of the Geneva Center for Security Policy, former OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger said in an interview with RIA Novosti. «Yes, they must continue. If you just think about it about what is on the negotiating table, from the point of view of Russia, these are not yet guarantees, but it is a lot of things that have not been talked about at all for years. And now — all of a sudden — these proposals are on the negotiating table. I also think that a bridge to guarantees (which the Russian Federation requires — ed.) can be established when arms control negotiations in the subregion begin. Then you can get quite close to those approaches that are close to what Russia requires in terms of guarantees,» he said. In his opinion, Russia and the United States, despite harsh statements, are currently conducting a rather constructive dialogue. However, the toxic atmosphere in the media can undermine the actual work on the negotiations. «There is a feeling that there is a constructive dialogue between the negotiators now. And this, I think, is a certain contrast with the official statements that you already hear from the ministries, and even more contrast with the tone of the media And, of course, there is a risk that the toxic atmosphere in the media and in the official discourse can spoil the real work of the negotiations to some extent. That is why I insist that now we need to try to reduce the degree of rhetoric, «he said. At the end of 2021, Russia published drafts of a treaty with the United States and an agreement with NATO on security assurances. Moscow, in particular, demands from its Western partners legal guarantees of refusing further expansion of NATO to the east, from joining the Ukrainian bloc and from establishing military bases in post-Soviet countries. The proposals also contain a clause on the non-deployment of NATO strike weapons near Russia's borders and the withdrawal of alliance forces in Eastern Europe to the positions of 1997. On January 26, the US and NATO sent Moscow written responses to Russia's proposals on security guarantees. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is studying the responses of the United States and NATO, after interdepartmental coordination it will be reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he will decide on further steps. jpg» />The State Department confirmed the receipt of a response from Russia to the de-escalation proposal
