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Russia can begin dialogue with US only on equal footing, says senior Russian diplomat

According to Sergey Ryabkov, Washington is unwilling to resume dialogue on strategic stability and regional matters

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Moscow is no more interested in dialogue with the United States than Washington is, but only on a level playing field, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday.

"We are no more interested in this dialogue than they (the United States - TASS) are. They think that everyone will go cap in hand to them and Russia, among others, will beg them: let us begin discussing some issues we are interested in. We can [begin dialogue] but only on equal footing. Only when our interests are 100-percent taken into account. No other way," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.

According to Ryabkov, Washington is unwilling to resume dialogue on strategic stability and regional matters. "When they (the United States - TASS) are ripe, when they demonstrate interest, we will see based on our interest at that time," he added.

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