White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing that Russia allegedly threatens the West, talking about retaliatory measures if Moscow is not satisfied with the response to security guarantee proposals.

“Their threats…Secretary Blinken seems to have had a very good quote (it made me laugh), he said a couple of days ago that it’s like a fox threatening to attack the chickens in the chicken coop because he feels that the chickens are threatening her,” she said.

According to Psaki, Russia allegedly has "an unlimited ability to distort the truth and its own actions."

However, she did not directly answer the question whether the White House is ready to publish more details about how "Russia operates." 

“Part of their tactics are aimed at creating conditions for their invasion (on Ukraine.

- RT

).

And we need to make it very clear to the world community and the American public what they are trying to do and why... Much of what they publicly state is false information.

It is necessary that people understand and assimilate this, ”Psaki answered vaguely.

At the same time, according to a White House press secretary, the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security are coordinating with the intelligence community to "provide a common understanding of Russian disinformation and influence activities related to the situation in Ukraine."

Psaki also noted that the main efforts of the United States in terms of containing the Russian Federation are "in laying out clear potential consequences."

“Any package of sanctions will far exceed what was done in 2014, including affecting the business and economic interests of President Putin and the top Russian leadership,” the White House press secretary promised.

On January 26, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Russian Foreign Ministry, together with other departments, would prepare proposals to the Russian President on further steps, depending on the content of the US written response on security guarantees proposed by Moscow.

“If there is no constructive response and the West continues its aggressive course, then Moscow, as President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated, will take the necessary retaliatory measures.

In any case, everyone should proceed from the fact that the security of Russia and its citizens is an absolute priority, and it will be reliably ensured under all circumstances, ”Lavrov emphasized during a speech in the State Duma.

  • RIA News

  • © Mikhail Voskresensky

The Foreign Minister noted that recently the United States and its allies in Europe, "thoroughly forgotten the culture of diplomacy", are redoubling their efforts to contain Russia.

According to him, against this background, the demands to Moscow to stop conducting exercises on the territory of Russia sound especially cynical, to which Moscow has the full undeniable right.

“Double standards here are just off scale, but we, unfortunately, have long been accustomed to this.

Of course, in this situation, we will not sit idly by,” the head of Russian diplomacy said.

Moscow offers

In December last year, Russia handed over to the United States and NATO countries and then made public the draft documents on security assurances.

In particular, they contain provisions on the non-expansion of NATO, including at the expense of the former republics of the USSR, including Ukraine.

In January, Russia's proposals were discussed during Moscow's talks with Washington in Geneva, as well as with NATO in Brussels and within the framework of the OSCE.

On January 26, US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan handed over to Russia a written response from the American administration to Russia's earlier submitted draft bilateral treaty on security guarantees.

On the same day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference that the alliance had also given Moscow its written response to its security assurance initiatives.

According to him, NATO identifies three main areas where it sees "an opportunity for progress" and on which the alliance is ready to start a more detailed discussion within the Russia-NATO Council as soon as possible.

These are relations between the bloc and the Russian Federation, European security, including the situation around Ukraine, as well as risk reduction, transparency and arms control.

According to the Secretary General, the NATO response also contains a proposal to resume the work of representative offices in Moscow and Brussels and "to make full use of the existing military communication channels."

At the same time, Stoltenberg stressed that NATO countries cannot "compromise on the principles on which the security" of the bloc, Europe and North America is built.

Answering a question about Ukraine's possible membership in NATO, Stoltenberg said that "each country can determine its own path."

At the same time, the Secretary General stressed that NATO is striving for a "de-escalation" of the situation around Ukraine, but is preparing "for the worst."

“We are also raising the level of combat readiness of our forces and strengthening our presence, including in the Black Sea region of the Baltic Sea - these are warships, military aircraft,” Stoltenberg said.

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is considering the responses of the United States and NATO on the security guarantees proposed by the Russian side in the complex.

According to him, in the Washington document there is a reaction that allows you to count on "the beginning of a serious conversation, but on secondary issues."

However, to the main question to the United States about the non-expansion of NATO and the inadmissibility of deploying strike weapons that could threaten the territory of the Russian Federation, "there is no positive reaction," Lavrov added.

At the same time, the Kremlin said that Moscow would not delay reacting to Washington's security response.

"Two Track Approach"

In a conversation with RT, Sergey Ermakov, an expert at the RISS Research Coordination Center, noted that against the backdrop of aggressive and anti-Russian steps by the United States and NATO, the White House continues its destructive information campaign against Russia, aimed at the Western public.

“We are seeing a rather sophisticated two-track approach, where, on the one hand, the West announces some steps towards Russia, and on the other, it increases its military activity near the Russian borders.

But at the same time, he continues to demonize Moscow and accuse it of worsening the military-political situation in the world, ”the expert emphasized.

In his opinion, the United States, which is once again making an attempt to convince the West that it is Russia that is the source of threat and danger, is faced with the task of mobilizing its allies.

“NATO is increasing its presence near the borders of the Russian Federation, they promise to bring down economic sanctions on Moscow supposedly by an unknown force - all this must be explained somehow.

And here stories come to the rescue about Russia's alleged plans to attack Ukrainian territory, about some kind of disinformation, a threat.

But all this has nothing to do with reality, ”the expert said.

A similar opinion is shared by Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, a member of the Russian Civic Chamber.

According to him, against the backdrop of openly unfriendly actions by the United States and NATO directed against the Russian Federation, the White House press secretary is performing an important mission for the West: he is trying to support in the public space the idea that allegedly Moscow poses a threat to global security, in particular European. 

“Jen Psaki is trying to manipulate public opinion.

They do their best to support the myth that allegedly Russia is going to attack Ukraine.

But her statements that the Russian Federation allegedly poses a threat look, to put it mildly, strange when it is the NATO infrastructure that is expanding more and more eastward and strengthening its forces near the borders of the Russian Federation, ”Danyuk said in an interview with RT.

According to him, speaking of "disinformation" from Russia, it is very important for Washington to present Moscow as a toxic party in the negotiation process, which supposedly "throws in false information."

“Such a desire to denigrate Russia at all costs is explained by the domestic political situation in the United States and in the West as a whole.

Given the information campaign launched by Washington, any step towards Moscow is regarded as a kind of betrayal, weakness, or a sign that the West allegedly followed Putin's lead, ”the analyst explained.

Danyuk added that the West simply cannot admit that Russia also has its own national interests.

“There, no one thinks that Russia is obliged to respond to the measures of NATO and the United States, based on the concepts of its national security.

Until recently, Moscow, given its military potential, proceeded solely from defensive goals.

But what NATO is doing makes the Russian Federation think about responding to these threats, ”the expert emphasized.

  • AP

  • © Roland Balik/US Air Force

According to Danyuk, Moscow understands that the continuation of the alliance's aggressive policy against the Russian Federation may ultimately lead to Russia being completely surrounded by the bloc's countries, which "would level the Russian military potential."

“Under these conditions, the Russian Federation is obliged to protect itself by taking retaliatory measures.

Because the current activity of NATO and the United States suggests that the bloc and Washington are not capable of a constructive dialogue.

They pretend that they do not understand that Russia reads their actions as a signal of readiness for military adventures and confrontation, ”the expert said.

At the same time, according to Danyuk, the United States and NATO are seeking to "further aggravate the situation."

“The Alliance and Washington intend to show the Western consumer that if Russia is dissatisfied with something, then they will complicate the situation even more, creating new causes for concern for the Russian Federation,” the expert believes.

The situation will develop in the context of further tension, increased military activity in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, Danyuk believes.

“However, all this will certainly be followed by a response from Russia, since Moscow has already drawn the conclusion that at the level of diplomatic contacts with the political elite of the West, it is not necessary to count on some kind of constructive and recognition that Russia has its own understanding of national security,” the analyst concluded.