MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. The prolonged stay of Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov in Moscow indicates that Moscow and Washington assumed a wait-and-see position in bilateral relations, says Valery Garbuzov, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute for US and Canadian Studies.
"One possible variant [in Russian-US relations] is a kind of strategic waiting," Garbuzov told TASS. "It is aimed at re-consideration of how the two sides found themselves in confrontation with each other and what must be done in order to come out of it. To simply stick to one’s guns means to change nothing and maintain this adversarial relationship."
According to the expert, the return of the Russian envoy to Washington is delayed, among other things, because Moscow mulls over how to build relations with the Americans as the imposed anti-Russian sanctions significantly limit the agenda for joint bilateral work. The expert noted that, in order to stabilize the relations, the sides can resort to a tactic of minor concessions, but neither Moscow nor Washington displays readiness for such a policy.
"All things considered, in order to introduce some changes in bilateral relations, it is necessary that both sides change something in their foreign political behavior; this is true for both Russia and the US. They must make concessions, but neither side is ready right now," Garbuzov said.