The United States and NATO partners are united in their readiness to start active diplomatic talks with Russia, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price noted, VOA reported.

The Biden administration has confirmed that the bilateral talks between the United States and Russia will take place on January 10. The White House said in a statement that the two sides will discuss security concerns in Eastern Europe and the possibility of easing growing tensions over Ukraine.

Ned Price did not answer the question who will lead the American delegation in the negotiations, saying that more information about this will come out in the coming days. He stressed that the Biden administration continues to show a clear and consistent approach to the situation around Ukraine, adding that the Ukrainian issue will also be discussed at the January 12 meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, and on January 13—at the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

State Department spokesperson confirmed that during the bilateral talks the United States will definitely take into account the views of its allies and partners.

Price stressed that the Strategic Stability Dialogue, whose approval became known after the June 16 summit of Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, is a “bilateral channel with the Russian Federation to discussion issues of strategic stability, issues that are of great importance to the United States but also great importance to our NATO Allies.”