In statements to the press, he explained that during the dialogue Moscow underlined the unacceptability of the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to the east, while Washington made clear the importance of analyzing the issue with the rest of the members of the military bloc.

Regarding the preparation of possible proposals by the two parties from the virtual summit, Peskov expressed that his country “would not like to get ahead of events”, TASS news agency reported.

“For the time being, we are concentrating on preparing the main reasoning behind our conceptual position, which will be prepared and communicated to US colleagues”, he said.

It is still unknown, he explained, who will be in the preparation of the proposals by the United States, or if other NATO representatives will take part. This should be clarified in the near future, he said.

In the video conference between the two presidents on Tuesday, Putin pointed out the interest in obtaining reliable and legally established guarantees that exclude the eastward expansion of the Atlantic Alliance as well as the deployment of offensive attack weapons systems in neighboring states to Russia.

According to the Kremlin report, the presidents agreed to instruct their representatives to engage in substantial consultations on such significant issues.

pgh/lcr