Russia receives the US response to its list of demands, and Blinken confirms that Washington's offer offers a "serious diplomatic path"

 The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday evening that the US ambassador in Moscow, John Salvian, handed it his country's response to the list of security demands it submitted to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, foremost of which is the withdrawal of NATO from Eastern Europe.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in a statement that Ambassador Sullivan "has handed over the written response to the US administration on a draft bilateral treaty on security guarantees that the Russian side had previously submitted."

 For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed Wednesday that Washington had set a "serious diplomatic path" to resolving the conflict over Ukraine in its letter to the Russian government.

 "We make clear that there are fundamental principles that we are committed to preserving and defending, including Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances," he said after the letter was delivered to Moscow.

 Blinken said the letter made it clear to Moscow that Kiev could choose its allies, ignoring a Russian demand for a pledge that Ukraine would never join NATO.

 The US Secretary also confirmed that he will speak with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in the coming days, to get Moscow's response to the US position.

On Wednesday, NATO announced that it had submitted written "proposals" to Russia, after Moscow made a series of demands related to reducing US influence in Eastern Europe.

 "NATO conveyed its proposals to Russia this afternoon, in parallel with the United States," a NATO official said.

 In December, Russia revealed proposals to contain what Moscow considers the increasing influence of the United States and NATO in the republics of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.

 In the draft security documents, Moscow is asking the US-led alliance not to include new members or establish bases in former Soviet republics.

 Kiev and Western countries accuse Russia of massing tens of thousands of soldiers on the Ukrainian border in preparation for a possible invasion.