Moscow, Kiev agree to keep truce in east Ukraine

Written response

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the written response was delivered in person to the Russian Foreign Ministry by US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan. The NATO proposal was sent in "parallel with the United States", NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

"We're open to dialogue. We prefer diplomacy and we're prepared to move forward where there is the possibility of communication, cooperation," Blinken said, while stressing "there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend, including Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances".

On the written response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Alexander Grushko received US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan at his request."

The US and NATO responses come a month after Russia made public a list of ambitious demands for security guarantees that sought to limit the Western military bloc's role in Ukraine and other former Soviet territories.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the State Duma, Russia's legislature, that Russia would not release the US response to Russia's security demands but, if asked, would disclose the general meaning of the answers.