WASHINGTON, January 17. /TASS/. Russia-US relations are currently balancing ‘on the brink of an abyss’ due Washington’s increasingly destructive steps, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told TASS in an interview, commenting on the current state of bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington.

"Last year was extremely hectic. The US administration's actions were becoming ever more destructive and unpredictable. For this reason, US-Russian relations continued to deteriorate, teetering on the brink of an abyss. There are no glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel," the diplomat said.

At the same time, he pointed out that Russia is not interested in destroying relations with America and is determined to prevent them from further deteriorating. "Of course, we will continue to try to prevent Russian-US relations from plunging further down into an uncontrollable tailspin. We are firmly convinced that the nullification of ties between two nuclear powers that are permanent members of the UN Security Council does nothing to meet the aspirations not only of the Russian people and the American people, but also of the human race as a whole," Antonov said.

According to him, Russian diplomats in the United States over the past year "have endeavored to prevent the bilateral relationship from collapsing once and for all." In addition, Moscow has acted and is acting to "preserve [the two countries’] mutual diplomatic presence and to normalize conditions for the functioning of the Russian and US foreign missions on each other's respective territory," the ambassador said.

"We will continue to firmly safeguard Russia's national interests. We will fight against Russophobia and the mass circulation of myths regarding the so-called ‘Russian threat,’" Anatoly Antonov added, commenting on the embassy's priorities for 2024.