WASHINGTON, July 12. /TASS/. Reasonable thoughts on a diplomatic settlement of the situation in Ukraine were drowned out by Russophobic rhetoric at the NATO summit in Washington D.C. on July 9-11, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said.

"Peace in Ukraine is viewed through the prism of Russia’s strategic defeat. They want to portray us as the devil incarnate. It’s about time to stop building castles in the air and realize that the Russian Federation is here to stay. Nobody can conquer us," the Russian diplomat said, as quoted on the embassy’s Telegram channel. "Certain reasonable ideas at the summit toward the political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian conflict were muffled by Russophobic rhetoric. ‘Hawks’ have neither the desire, nor the apparent ability to listen to or hear out anyone else," he added.

"NATO’s decision to continue flooding the Kiev regime with weapons against Russia and deploying US long-range systems in Europe underscores the validity of launching the special military operation," Antonov said. "What our opponents are now doing, creating additional threats to Russia’s security, predetermines the necessary countermeasures we take in the military and technical sphere," he concluded.