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Senior Russian diplomat says Moscow not refusing contacts with Washington

As Sergey Ryabkov said, for contacts to make sense, both sides should be interested

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Moscow is not refusing contacts with Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday, adding that it was the United States who interrupted communication at various levels under far-fetched pretexts.

"We have never refused any contacts. The thing is communication at various levels was interrupted by the US for far-fetched reasons with just working channels through embassies and sporadic telephone conversations remaining. If they think nothing else is needed, we’ll take this as a given, for their position," the senior Russian diplomat said.

According to Ryabkov, any Russian initiatives or proposals will be irrelevant here. "We are not imploring anyone to do anything," he added. "For contacts to make sense, both sides should be interested. And in the meantime, it seems, we will be following the algorithm that I have just described." Responding to a follow-up question, he said that Moscow could not see any such interest from the United States.