MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Moscow will never agree to make unilateral concessions to Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview, published by aif.ru on Friday.
"Of course, there is certain unpredictability about what will happen next. But one thing is clear to me as we speak about the future, and I would like to emphasize it: we will never make any unilateral concessions to the US," he said, adding that any move of this kind will be treated "as a powerful instrument for abruptly stepping up pressure."
In his opinion, a serious conversation with Washington is theoretically possible, but "strictly on the basis of the balance of interests" and after a thorough analysis of any deal’s potential benefits for Russia.
Ryabkov also said that Russia was engaging in dialogue with the US embassy in Moscow.
"We are in dialogue with the US embassy, including with the ambassador. The dialogue is difficult. Points of convergence, which may potentially lead to solutions, are extremely low in numbers, if there even are any," the deputy foreign minister said.
"The atmosphere is heavy," he continued. "But [US Ambassador to Russia] Mrs. [Lynne] Tracy is well aware of <…> where she is working. She has due experience. I hope it will help her at least to make accurate assessments of ongoing events and to warn Washington about growing risks of those events."