President Vladimir Putin has issued demands to the West which he says concern Russia's security, including that Ukraine be stopped from joining Nato.

He wants the Western defensive alliance to abandon military exercises and stop sending weapons to eastern Europe, which Moscow sees as its backyard.

At a press conference after the meeting, Mr Lavrov accused Nato of working against Russia. He reiterated Moscow's position that it has "never threatened the Ukrainian people" and has no plans to attack Ukraine.

The US will present Russia with a written response to its security red lines "next week", he added. Another meeting is expected to follow when Russia has examined it.

Mr Blinken told reporters the US is prepared to pursue possible means of addressing Russian concerns in the spirit of reciprocity.

Beforehand, analysts mooted this might include more transparency on military exercises in the region, or reviving restrictions on missiles in Europe. These rules were previously set out in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Cold War-era pact that the US scrapped in 2019, after accusing Russia of violating the deal.

Mr Blinken also urged Russia to stop its aggression towards Ukraine, saying the troop build-up gives it the ability to attack Ukraine from the south, east and north.

He said the US knows from experience that Moscow also has an "extensive playbook" of non-military ways of furthering its interests, including cyber attacks.

Mr Blinken said the talks also touched on Iran and negotiations over its nuclear capabilities, which he called an example of how the US and Russia can work together on security issues.

BBC