MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. Russia does not stop the dialogue with the United States and will be building relations on the basis of Washington's practical steps, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Solovyov Live YouTube channel on Tuesday.

"We will proceed from the practical steps of the American side," she said, following the appointment of the US Department of State's new special energy envoy. Zakharova said that the United States had many times made statements that "did not go farther than declarations."

She stressed that Moscow maintained contacts with Washington and never closed the door to a dialogue.

"We respond to the unfriendly moves that the United States takes against our country. At the same time, we invariably respond constructively to constructive steps towards us. We shall proceed from the realities," Zakharova said.

On Monday, the news portal Axios quoted sources as saying US President Joe Biden had appointed Amos Hochstein, a firm opponent of the gas pipeline project Nord Stream 2 as the Department of State's special energy envoy.