Russia regrets that the United States is not making enough efforts to resume the full-fledged dialogue with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
“[The United States voices] one position: Russia has deteriorated the relations itself and therefore should change its behavior. When such statements are made in the US Congress, I can understand them because they are using all the tools to achieve internal political goals. But when such remarks are made during closed consultations, one can do nothing but to make a conclusion that the US partners do not want to work constructively,” Lavrov said in an interview with Vietnam Television, China Television and Phoenix Television on the threshold of his visit to China and Vietnam.
The minister reaffirmed Russian readiness for a dialogue with the United States, which must be based on the balance of interests, not on ultimatums.
“I repeat that we are open for a constructive dialogue when the United States is ready for an equal conversation, solution of problems basing on the balance of interests, not ultimatums,” Lavrov noted.
He also expressed regret that the internal US disagreements had exerted a negative impact on the Russian-US talks on strategic stability.
“It is regretful that this also hit the [talks on] strategic stability, the most important sphere for the global security,” the minister said.
According to Lavrov, the United States took a nonconstructive and even destructive stance on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty).
“They [the Americans] want to see nothing, [they say] Russia must destroy the [9М729] missile under the US control. That is not very polite even in the US relations with the states that are smaller than Russia,” the minister said.
Lavrov added that the US forces, which are setting the policy toward Russia, wanted to prevent US President Donald Trump from fulfilling one of his election promises, to normalize relations between Moscow and Washington.
“They are seeking only deterioration [of the US-Russian relations],” the minister stressed.
In October, Trump announced his country’s intention to withdraw from the INF Treaty over alleged Russian violations of the agreement. Earlier in February, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo announced that the United States had suspended its obligations under the INF Treaty and triggered the six-month withdrawal process unless Russia comes back into compliance with the pact. The following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had suspended its participation in the treaty in response to the US actions. (UNI)
Russia regrets US unwillingness to resume full-fledged bilateral dialogue- Lavrov
