MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. Russia and the US are not planning any high-level contacts for the time being, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a news conference on the eve of the ninth review conference of the parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons (BTWC) on Thursday.
"As for the specific topic of certain contacts, I want to emphasize that we did not initiate anything like that either in terms of probing into this possibility or in an official way. There were no plans for such contacts," he said, while answering the question whether there had been any attempts to arrange for a Russian-US meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
"We are not planning any high-level contacts right now," he stressed.
Ryabkov explained that the parties were conducting a dialogue through the usual diplomatic channels, without involving the presidential level.
"The dialogue with the Americans is going on through telephone conversations between relevant senior and top officials without involving the presidential level. We are having a dialogue through the usual diplomatic channels," Ryabkov said.
He recalled it was the United States that unilaterally and without any motives "curtailed work in many areas" in an attempt to demonstrate something to Russia.
"There was no need for demonstrating anything to us. We understand the US attitude and the essence of the policy that the United States is pursuing towards Russia. But as long as they made such a choice, it is up to them to revise it. If and when they realize this, then, probably, it will be possible to talk about some contacts and additional opportunities for a dialogue. If not, then there will be no such contacts. I don't see any problem here at all," Ryabkov concluded.
He spoke very highly of the Indonesian G20 presidency. Indonesia did its best to ensure that the G20 summit ended successfully, Ryabkov pointed out.
"The intrigues of Russia’s opponents and enemies and critics of our approach, including in relation to what is happening in Ukraine and around it completely failed. This is a great achievement of the Indonesian presidency," he said.