WASHINGTON, August 2. /TASS/. Russia invites the US administration to discuss cyber threats to arms control systems and hopes for a comprehensive cybersecurity dialogue in the future, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with the National Interest journal published on Monday.
For now, there have been several rounds of consultations, and it is definitely an important and promising sign. American colleagues, however, prefer to focus discussions mainly on ransomware activities, while cybersecurity is much broader," he said. "I hope that this dialogue will acquire a comprehensive character in the near future. As an option, we can debate on cyber threats to arms control systems, etc."
According to the Russian diplomat, Russia’s authorities issued 35 requests to the United States concerning cyberattacks from its territory in the first six months of 2021 alone. There were 45 such requests last year. "Requests of the Russian competent authorities regarding cyber-attacks also remain without reaction from the U.S. side. There were forty-five of them in 2020, and thirty-five in the first six months of 2021. For our part, we fully satisfied ten requests from the United States last year and two appeals in the first half of the current year. This indicates that we have a lot to work on," he said, adding that both countries suffer from cyber criminals.
"We have consistently sought to establish professional cooperation on cybersecurity issues in Washington. In particular, since 2015, we have taken six attempts to launch such interaction. Moreover, on September 25, 2020, the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, proposed a comprehensive program of measures to restore Russia-U.S. cooperation in the field of International Information Security (IIS). Unfortunately, there has been no official reaction from the United States so far," Antonov said.
"We would like to reiterate that Russia is ready for honest and mutually beneficial cooperation, without politicization and hidden agendas. We take a responsible approach to cybersecurity issues," he stressed.
He noted that media reports about "hacker attacks, which are allegedly carried out from the Russian territory" nearly every day. "Evidence is never provided. Such issues should be raised not by reporters, but professionals. American colleagues if they ask for it can count on rapid and high-level assistance from the Russian side," he added.