Nuland: US open for consultations with Russia

The US authorities expect Russia to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine and are open for consultations in the Russia-NATO format, as well as in the format of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said, speaking with European journalists, Report informs referring to the US Department of State website.

She said that the US key European allies and partners have been gravely concerned by the Russian buildup around Ukraine’s borders.

“This is obviously about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent nation, Ukraine, to make its own choices about its own security future without aggression and without pressure. It is about NATO’s right to make its own decisions. But it’s about the broader European security architecture and all of the undertakings that we have all made together in the OSCE, in the Helsinki Final Act, in the UN Charter. But even more broadly, it’s about the basic rules of the road of the international system that makes clear that one country cannot change the borders of another by force, that one country cannot dictate to another country its choices and its decisions with regard to foreign policy,” Nuland noted.

“So, we’re looking for Russia to deescalate. We are open to appropriate consultations in the NATO/Russia format, in the OSCE format. The US and Russia also have a strategic dialogue on arms control in which we coordinate closely with our European allies. But we are also making the point very, very clearly as we did in the G7 that if Russia does not choose the path of de-escalation and chooses the path of further aggression that there will be severe consequences and we are working together to ensure that we are united in that message and that we are united in being ready should that unhappy day come,” she added.