US 'prepared' for diplomacy with Russia, talk must be based on reciprocity: White House

US is ready to engage in diplomacy with Russia and will hold a dialogue through multiple channels, including bilateral engagement, the NATO-Russia Council, and the OSCE, the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday after holding a telephonic conversation with his Russian counterpart Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Russia, Yuriy Ushakov.

Sullivan told a press briefing that any dialogue between the US and Moscow must be based on reciprocity, and must address the United States’ concerns about Russia’s actions. The dialogue must be conducted in full coordination with our European Allies and partners, US national security advisor Sullivan further insisted. He also noted that substantive progress can only occur in an environment of de-escalation rather than escalation.

'We're prepared for dialogue with Russia': US 

The talks between US and Russia come in the backdrop of a heavy troop build-up near Ukraine and soaring tensions between NATO, the US, and its allies, and the Kremlin. US intelligence reports revealed that Moscow is planning a military invasion involving an estimated 175,000 troops as early as next year. Declassified US intelligence paper also outlined that Russia mobilized 100 battalion tactical units, as well as heavy armour, artillery, and other equipment to launch an offensive on Kyiv, which the NATO and US warned against.

The United States, however, stressed that it still believes there is an ‘opportunity for progress’ in normalizing the tense situation if talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin would be held "in the appropriate format,” adding “we're prepared for dialogue with Russia.” 

Last week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at the event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Washington that Russia has now put on the table its concerns with American and NATO activities, referring to Moscow’s recent document laying down conditions such as limiting activities of the US-led Nato military alliance in the region. 

“We're going to put on the table our concern with Russian activities that we believe harm our interest and values. That's the basis of reciprocity upon which you would pursue any kind of dialogue,” Sullivan stressed. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also asserted to the reporters that the US will not hold dialogue with Russia alone, there will be “no talks on European security without our European allies and partners.”

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had earlier told the country’s state-affiliated press that Russia has given the US and NATO two draft treaties that lay down a set of radical demands for the countries that join the transatlantic alliance NATO. The demands mention the “red lines” as spoken previously by the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the security guarantees from both United States and NATO to curb NATO’s eastward military expansion and remove weaponry installed after 1997.

Russia seeks to prohibit the US from providing military assistance to the former Soviet states and stop all military exercises in the Eastern European region, Central Asia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan