WASHINGTON, March 18. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov will fly to Moscow on March 20 for consultations concerning future bilateral relations, the Russian embassy said on Wednesday.
"Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov will fly to Moscow for consultations on March 20. He will hold meetings at the Russian foreign ministry and other government agencies to discuss ways of correcting the Russian-US ties, which are now in a crisis," the embassy wrote on its Facebook account.
According to the embassy, the current crisis in relations between Russia and the United States stems from Washington’s policy and certain statements by US senior officials pose threats of collapse to the bilateral ties.
"The current situation stems from Washington’s deliberate policy. As a matter of fact, Washington has been deliberately driving bilateral cooperation to a dead end in the recent years. The US administration’s non-constructive policy towards our country is in the interest of neither Russia nor the United States and certain reckless statements of US senior officials pose a threat of utter collapse to bilateral relations, which are already excessively confrontational," the embassy wrote.
Russia calls for establishing dialogue with the United States and insists that good and pragmatic relations are in the interests of both nations, the Russian embassy in the United States said. "We stand for establishing dialogue between two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that are responsible for international peace and security," the embassy stressed.
The Russian side is convinced that "good and pragmatic ties between Russia and the United States are in the interests of our countries and the international community," it noted.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary earlier on Wednesday that Ambassador Antonov had been summoned to Moscow for consultations “in order to analyse what needs to be done in the context of relations with the United States."