MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not confirmed information from the US Department of State that Moscow had submitted its reaction to American proposals on security to Washington. According to him, Russia shared with the US some ideas on a different subject.

“No, there was a mix-up. Those were different ideas on a slightly different issue. For the time being, the Russian Federationxe2x80x99s fundamental response on, perhaps, the main issue nowadays has not been submitted. Currently, this response is being prepared and there was simply a mix-up,” the Kremlin official told journalists on Tuesday in response to a question by TASS.

Earlier on Monday, the official representative of the US Department of State told TASS that the United States had received the response from Russia on the security guarantees and on the de-escalation issue around Ukraine that Washington had sent to Moscow earlier.

On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Moscow and Washington on security guarantees and measures for ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. The proposed measures include guarantees that NATO will not advance eastward, and not grant membership to Ukraine and other countries into the US-led bloc, along with the non-deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear ones. Several rounds of consultations in various formats have already taken place but no agreements have been announced. The West claims that the discussion is intended in order to prevent Russiaxe2x80x99s alleged invasion of Ukraine.

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On January 26, the US and NATO handed over written responses to Russia on Moscowxe2x80x99s security guarantees that it was demanding from Washington and Brussels. The American side requested that the documents not be made public, yet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg enumerated their basic provisions. According to these statements, the West did not make concessions to Russia considered to be critical, but did indicate directions for further negotiations.

State Department officials

confirmed Monday

they had “received a written followup from Russia” to a document of proposals the US sent to the Kremlin last week on how to defuse tensions and pave the way for further security talks in response to Russia’s demands on security .

Hungary is a member of both NATO and the European Union, but Orban has cultivated a close relationship with the Russian President. In the past, the Hungarian government has sometimes sided with Russia over Ukraine. In 2019, Budapest vetoed a joint declaration of NATO ambassadors on Ukraine, effectively blocking Ukraine’s attempts at a closer cooperation with the alliance.

Meanwhile, Blinken is expected to speak with Lavrov on Tuesday, according to a State Department spokesperson.

This call comes on the heels of a heated exchange between the US and Russian ambassadors to the United Nations during a Security Council meeting Monday, with the US saying Russia didn’t give the answers they hoped for and Russia accusing Western UN colleagues of “whipping up tensions and rhetoric.”

Build-up of troops continues

While the US and its allies continue to pressure Russia to de-escalate the situation, floating the idea of new sanctions and boosting their presence in Eastern Europe, the Pentagon said Russia has continued the buildup of forces around its border with Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that additional Russian troops moved “in again around Belarus and around the border with Ukraine” over the weekend, adding that Russia was also increasing its “naval activity in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.”

“They have put to sea more ships, they are exercising at sea, they are clearly increasing the capabilities they have at sea, should they need it,” Kirby said. Both the added ground troops in Belarus and near the Ukrainian border as well as the Russian fleet vessels at sea are creating “options available to Mr. Putin,” Kirby said.

Wider diplomatic efforts will also continue on Tuesday with a series of meetings involving Ukraine officials.

UK Prime Minister Johnson was traveling to Kyiv Tuesday for talks with President Zelensky. In the runup to the meeting, Johnson announced xc2xa388 million ($118 million) in new funding for Ukraine aimed at helping the country achieve “stable governance and energy independence,” according to a statement from Downing Street.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was also scheduled to visit Ukraine on Tuesday. In a statement posted on his official Twitter account on Monday, Rutte said he spoke with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and would speak to the French President Emmanuel Macron before his trip on Tuesday.

Macron himself spoke to Zelensky and to Putin on Friday, and then again to the Russian President on Monday. A readout of the call from the Elysee Palace said Putin and Macron wished “to continue the dialogue” in the Normandy Format, a four-way conversation between representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France that has been trying to broker peace in eastern Ukraine since 2014.