Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday that the United States has delivered written responses to demands made by Russia, saying it will be up to the Kremlin on how they want to proceed amid heightening tensions between Moscow and Ukraine.
Russia had issued a list of demands in December, including a promise to not admit Ukraine as a member of NATO and to withdraw troops from the region even as Russia continued to amass troops near the Ukraine border, increasing fears that Moscow will order an invasion of its neighbor.
Blinken, on Wednesday, said that U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Sullivan hand-delivered the Biden administration’s written responses to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.
Blinken said the administration is not releasing the document publicly because “we think that diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks.”