Russia says it’s ready for negotiations with the West

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Oct. 30 that Russia is ready for negotiations if the West “fully takes into account the interests” of Russia and its security, as well as “offers some serious approaches that will contribute to defusing tensions,” as reported by Russian state-controlled RIA Novosti.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov also said on Oct. 30 that Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden could “discuss Russia's security guarantees,” but such talks would require the U.S. willingness to return to "the state of December-January.”

Peskov said that such negotiations would mean discussing the agreements that the Kremlin drafted in December and sent to NATO and the U.S. In the documents, Moscow demanded that NATO would not expand further, including to Ukraine and other countries, as well as abandon any military activity on the territory of Ukraine, other states of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Back then, NATO and the U.S. rejected

The statements by Russian officials come ahead of the G-20 summit of the world's largest economies in November on the Indonesian island of Bali, which both Biden and Putin will attend.

Earlier on Oct. 19, Politico reported, citing unnamed Biden administration officials, that the U.S. officials were working to make sure that the two leaders do not cross paths.

Even though Biden initially remained open to a formal bilateral meeting with Putin, the officials have ruled out that possibility. According to Politico's sources, Biden will also avoid appearing in a photo together with Putin.