Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov arrived in Geneva for Russian-US negotiations on peace guarantees. He had dinner with his American counterparts before talks got underway.

He said the US proposals for freezing the situation in Ukraine fell short of adressing the issue. "Other priorities are more important for us: non-expansion of NATO, elimination of the created infrastructure, refusal of measures, and not on a reciprocal basis, but on a unilateral basis from the West ".

Russia considers it unrealistic to wait for a solution in Geneva, but NATO must already start preparing to pull back.