MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Russia and the United States are unlikely to return to dialogue on strategic stability frozen by the US until Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is finished, Director of the Foreign Ministry's Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Vladimir Yermakov told TASS on Saturday.

"In the current situation, when the Western countries, with their inherent cynicism, have chosen the strategy of waging a proxy war with Russia, and we must firmly defend our fundamental interests threatened by Kiev, which has long been under the external control of the Western bloc, it makes little sense to speculate on the prospects for a strategic dialogue with the US. It may be feasible to revisit this topic after the special military operation is concluded and the essential tasks set by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin are accomplished," the diplomat said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.