MOSCOW, October 21./TASS/. Contact between Russia’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York and representatives from Western nations continue, with many colleagues even expressing understanding and sympathy out of public view, First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky told Rossiya-1 TV channel on Friday.
"We communicate with everyone, we talk to everyone. Yes, some of our Western colleagues there, the Britons in particular, may do it, so to say, arrogantly, it is not very pleasant for them, but they have to communicate with us. Naturally, when the cameras are on, one sees a show where affective evaluations can be heard, but you should not go by this, since we communicate normally on the sidelines," the diplomat said.
According to Polansky, many western representatives "express sympathy like normal people, understanding that we are in a rather difficult situation here as diplomats. "Many people do this, this is no secret. We are not hiding in UN corridors. Everyone sees that we are communicating with everyone," he said.
The deputy UN envoy also stressed that diplomats should remain professional under any circumstances, especially at multilateral venues, they should not give way to emotions or overstep their boundaries. "The positions that we express are the positions of our state, everyone has instructions," Polyansky went on to say. "Everyone has a need to say something that others may not like, but you don't have to take it personally. It seems to me that those who manage this feel quite well on the UN platform, the general geopolitical situation does not discourage them since they understand that they still need to talk, to negotiate," Polyansky stressed.
The diplomat also stressed that there are varying levels of professional cooperation that the general public doesn’t see, where interaction on various subjects does not stop, continuing literally 24 hours a day. "In this situation we are in a better position than our colleagues in Washington where our embassy is literally under siege. As I understand it, there is almost zero contact," Polansky summed up.