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Russian senior diplomat says he is open to dialogue with US counterpart

The diplomat comments on the Russia-US relations

XIAMEN /China/, September 4. /TASS/. Russia remains open to continuing the dialogue with the United States, including that at the deputy foreign minister level, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday.

"We have not eliminated a single channel for a dialogue or mechanism of interaction and they will not be eliminated, however hard the US side may be provoking us," Ryabkov said when asked if more contacts between him and US Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon were possible before the UN General Assembly session in the context of the latest actions by Washington towards the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States. "Everything that has been eliminated by now is a consequence of political decisions made in Washington."

Ryabkov pointed out that Moscow was in no mood of giving up the dialogue for it believes that even in the current situation it can and must be useful.

"If for some reason we fail to achieve a result or the progress we make turns out too insignificant, it will by no means be an excuse for not having a dialogue," he added.

"We are fully open to further work through this channel, too," Ryabkov said.