RUSSIA SAYS ITS PROPOSALS CAN FIX RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES

Russia said on Friday it wanted a legally binding guarantee that NATO would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.

Russia's relations with the United States have not hit their lowest point yet and security proposals Moscow has made can help ease tensions, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Russia said on Friday it wanted a legally binding guarantee that NATO would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, part of a wish list of security guarantees it wants to negotiate with the West.

It laid out for the first time in detail demands that it says are essential for lowering tensions in Europe and defusing a crisis over Ukraine.

I think we did not hit the lowest point, thank God, and there is progress in some aspects at the very least and not everything is hopeless, the Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying on Saturday.

Moscow needs stable and predictable relations with Washington, he said.

The situation can be stabilized and improved with the help of such agreements. Without them the situation will remain extremely difficult and tense,” Ryabkov said, according to Interfax.

The Russian proposals were set out in two documents this week - a draft agreement with NATO countries and a draft treaty with the United States, both published by the foreign ministry.