Russia says future of U.S., NATO talks depends on their response to Moscow's demands

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday the chances of talks with NATO and Washington continuing depended on the West's reaction to Moscow's proposals and that it expected a response next week, the RIA and Interfax news agencies said.

Lavrov denounced sanctions threats by the United States as "arrogant and absurd" and said Moscow would respond to any punitive measures, TASS and Interfax reported.

He said one tangible result of the talks, however, was a readiness by Washington and NATO to discuss short and intermediate-range missiles in Europe, RIA reported.