MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia will send a reply to the United States on the issue of security guarantees on Thursday, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.
Moscow will make the letter public a few hours after handing it over to the United States, Lavrov said. Russia has demanded that Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO, something that Washington and Brussels have so far refused to promise.
John Sullivan, the United States ambassador to Moscow, visited the foreign ministry building hours later and left shortly afterwards without talking to the press, TASS reported.
The diplomatic exchange takes place amid tensions not seen since the end of the Cold War as Moscow has massed over 100,000 troops close to Ukraine’s borders, although it says that it has no plans to invade its neighbour and some troops are already leaving after completing their drills.
(Reporting by Maria KiselyovaWriting by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by John Stonestreet and Angus MacSwan)
