US shared response to Russia's security demands with Ukraine before sending

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the U.S. had shared the written response to Kremlin's security demands with Ukraine prior to sending it over to Moscow.

"We had seen the written response of the U.S. before it was handed over to Russia. No objections on the Ukrainian side," Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Jan. 27.

https://twitter.com/dmytrokuleba/status/1486680531169431555?s=21

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to Kuleba's remarks saying "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."

Meanwhile, the Kremlin expressed its disappointment over the U.S. and NATO's written response to Russia’s demands to halt potential NATO expansion eastward, delivered to Moscow on Jan. 26.

“There was no positive answer to the main question,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Jan. 27.

However, Moscow also indicated it will keep communication channels open with NATO and the U.S. for now. “There is a response which gives hope for the start of a serious conversation on secondary questions,” Lavrov said.

The U.S. response has not been made public.

Blinken said the response contains offers of a diplomatic path to de-escalating tensions over Ukraine by addressing some of Russia’s concerns.

The U.S. didn’t cave in to Russia’s demand for a guarantee that NATO won’t expand in eastern Europe, Blinken said at a news briefing on Jan. 26. “We will uphold the principle of NATO’s open-door policy,” he said.

NATO followed suit, saying that it will not compromise on its key principles.

“We cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which the security of our alliance, and security in Europe and North America rest,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels.

The Kremlin’s ultimatum came amid the most recent escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which killed over 13,000 people since 2014.

According to the latest intelligence data, Moscow has concentrated over 120,000 troops in regions surrounding Ukraine, and also deployed a large number of combat-ready weaponry and military hardware from its distant districts.