Russia hopes to organize dialogue on strategic stability with the US in July — diplomat

Russian Politics & Diplomacy July 06, 2021, 12:40

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov pointed out that this dialogue must be an inter-agency one, and take place on various levels

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry expects that the dialogue on strategic stability with the US will become structured after the consultations on this matter, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview on Tuesday.

"We expect to have a meeting before the end of July, and hold the first initial round in an inter-agency format, and we hope that this process will become somewhat structured from there on. Which means to organize, to outline at least some framework for the first steps that would follow the initial meeting," he said.

Ryabkov underscored that this dialogue must be an inter-agency one, and take place on various levels.

"Besides the regular meetings between delegations, expert working bodies must be established, which will separate everything that we discuss during the regular meetings and that we were tasked with by the two presidents, by topic - a kind of a route chart. I hope that our American colleague would confirm their readiness to organize the dialogue in this way."

This will be followed by with organization of "official, formal talks," the senior diplomat pointed out.

Geneva summit agreements

Moscow expects that Washington will not fundamentally revise the agreements reached during the Geneva summit, and that the US will work on their implementation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview.

"I think that there will not be a deep fundamental revision of understandings reached at the top level, and in this case, the US administration will work to implement the agreements reached at the top level," the diplomat forecasted.

Ryabkov was confident that the Putin-Biden summit was a success. "Personally, I was impressed by the meeting with [US President Joe] Biden, namely due to the deep exchange of opinions by the presidents on specific matters and issues," he said. "There were no attempts at wishful thinking by the US side. The entire American team accompanying Biden was characterized by its realistic approaches and assessments."

The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden was held in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16.

US sanctions

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister added, that further expansion of the US’ sanctions pressure on Moscow is inevitable and Washington will be itching for excuses.

"I think it is inevitable," he said when asked a respective question. "The US simply cannot give up the sanctions policy, even realizing the lack of its prospects," Ryabkov said, adding that he expects Washington to be "itching for excuses, when and under what pretext to do something like that."

More than 95 sanctions cycles have been enforced by the US against Russia, the diplomat noted. Meanwhile, "the senselessness of this policy is becoming increasingly evident even for those formulating recommendations on what official course the administration in Washington should pursue regarding Russia," he said.

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