U.S. refuses to discuss security guarantees, situation surrounding Ukraine with Russia - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. Feb 24 (Interfax) - The United States has notified Russia that it does not intend to engage in the talks on security guarantees, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"We were doing everything we could to have negotiations. The Americans wrapped up those talks yesterday, refusing to discuss further through diplomatic channels both global security issues and the situation surrounding Ukraine," she said on Channel One.

She noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken were scheduled to hold talks in Geneva on Thursday.

She said that several hours before the departure, the U.S. Department of State had sent Blinken's official address through its diplomatic channels, according to which the Americans no longer intend to engage in the talks on these issues.

Zakharova also noted that France refused to hold a meeting of the Russian and French foreign ministers in Paris on February 25.

"The French Foreign Ministry through its representatives refused to have the meeting, which they not only initiated, but imposed on us. We do not need to be imposed, we do not need to be persuaded. We were offered and we agreed. They were just very insistent on publicizing their efforts, but they refused. They closed that door on their own," she said.