WASHINGTON, Febraury 10. /TASS/. Russia’s Ambassador to US Anatoly Antonov said he had no high expectations about Moscow-Washington relations under the new US administration.

In the run-up to the Russian Diplomats Day, marked on February 10, Ambassador Antonov and embassy diplomats paid tribute to the memory of Alexander Bodisco, Russia’s envoy to the United States in 1837-1854, at The Oak Hill Cemetery of Washington, DC.

"As we understand, we all have no high expectations for what awaits us, for what we will have. But this does not matter, I would like to <...> thank everyone for support," Antonov said, addressing his colleagues during a ceremony to lay flowers to the diplomat’s grave.

"Everything that we do, we do absolutely correctly. In a calm manner and without hysteria, we are defending Russia’s national interests through the development - whenever possible - of Russian-US relations," he added.

In his words, the Russian embassy in the United States had to work "in most difficult conditions" in past years.

"The last three [US] administrations did nothing to improve the stay of Russian diplomats here, to make it calmer and more comfortable," he said, adding that Russian diplomats are currently dealing with "a whole lot of" problems and tasks.