News - World: Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that the West's response to Moscow's security demands did not take into account the Kremlin's key concerns over Ukraine.

Putin and Macron held a "long" telephone conversation on Friday, a day after the United States and NATO delivered separate written responses to Moscow's security demands, according to the Kremlin.

"The US and NATO responses did not take into account Russia's fundamental concern, including preventing NATO's expansion and refusing to deploy strike weapons systems near Russia's borders," Putin told Macron, according to a readout of their call.

Last month, Russia provided the United States and its NATO allies with an array of security guarantees that it said it wanted the West to commit to, in an attempt to defuse the escalation of tensions over Ukraine. Those included a permanent ban on Ukraine joining NATO and the abandonment of any NATO military activities in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

The Kremlin said that Putin had told Macron that the US had "ignored" other key concerns outlined by the Kremlin and had failed to explain how security in Europe could be guaranteed without hurting the defense concerns of other countries.

Putin also told Macron that he would "carefully" study the US and NATO's responses, "after which he will decide on his further actions.”

Source: Press TV