White House Not Confirming Agreement On Biden's Talks With Putin On Russian Proposals For Security Guarantees In Early 2022 In Geneva

The White House does not confirm the agreement on negotiations between United States President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Russian proposals for security guarantees in early 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced this at a December 23 briefing, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“At the moment, there was no final agreement on the place or time. I cannot talk about the motives of President Putin at any given time and certainly not today (why he announced the talks in early January in Geneva)... We are working towards diplomatic negotiations. The Russians put forward proposals - we agreed with some, of course we did not agree with some of them. Obviously NATO is a good example of this. And we are working to finally decide what it will look like. We also agree that diplomatic negotiations are the right way to advance," she said.

Psaki confirmed that the U.S. had previously noted that it also expects negotiations in early January, but is not ready to confirm the meeting, since the details of the negotiations have not yet been finalized.

A White House spokeswoman also commented on Putin's words at a press conference that "it is the West that is helping to increase tensions in the region," as well as the Russian President's demands that Russia receive guarantees that "NATO will not accept Ukraine."

“Well, the facts are a funny thing, and the facts clearly show that the only aggression we see on the Russian-Ukrainian border is the military build-up by the Russians and the belligerent rhetoric of the Russian leader. I would also like to point out that today in the morning... at that press conference, President Putin said he was encouraged - and I'm paraphrasing here - the fact that there will be diplomatic talks - plans for diplomatic talks in January. We also believe this is the best path and the right path to advance. The third thing I would like to point out is that NATO is a defensive alliance; it is not an aggressive alliance. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise from the U.S. or NATO members. And of course our efforts are aimed at working with our NATO partners and protecting them,” said Psaki.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, during a press conference on December 23, Putin noted the positive reaction of the U.S. to the Russian proposals on security guarantees and said that negotiations on this issue would begin in early 2022 in Geneva (Switzerland).