WASHINGTON, August 5. /TASS/. Russia is ready to consider new political agreements with the US in the area of arms control and disarmament, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said.

According to the diplomat, the US is in effect unable at this point to ensure ratification of any new US-Russian arms control agreements that would reflect Moscow's priorities.

"Is it possible to assume today that Congress will ratify US-Russian agreements that would take into account Russian priorities? I'll answer you: no," Antonov said in an interview with TASS.

According to the ambassador, the US executive branch understands this and is thinking about reaching some political agreements that do not require ratification by the Senate and would take effect after the expiration of the US-Russian Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as New START.

"The Americans understand this, so today they are thinking about politically binding agreements for after 2026, or after the expiration of the New START, which would be in effect only for the duration of the president’s term in office," Antonov said.

The ambassador reiterated that Russia is mostly interested in legally binding arms-control agreements.

"We are interested in any agreements with the United States of America being legally binding. People could argue with me now and say, 'We are not ruling out political agreements.' We are not. But given the lack of trust between our two countries, of course, legally binding agreements are in our interests," the diplomat said.

He also said that until the US rejects its hostile policy toward Russia, there can be no new arms control agreements.

"If the Americans don’t abandon their hostile position or policy toward the Russian Federation, we can’t engage in what the Americans are offering us," the ambassador stated.

Demands that can’t be met

According to Antonov, the US sometimes makes arms-control demands to Russia that the US itself is not prepared to meet.

"The Americans sometimes make demands to us that they themselves can’t meet," he said.

"I say to the Americans, 'Are you ready to allow me, a Russian diplomat, to come to your depot and look at your nuclear warheads?' They say, ‘No,’" the ambassador recounted. "’Do you want to come [to Russian nuclear weapons depots]?’ ‘Yes.’"

According to the diplomat, this means that some issues related to arms control are now being handled by incompetent individuals in the US.

"This shows that the people who are dealing with these issues are not professionals, not specialists. They don't understand what they are saying," the Antonov said.

He said Russia never issues ultimatums in arms-control talks.

"I want to say this: We have never assumed that our position is all there is. We say: Here is our position, and we propose to discuss it. This is not an ultimatum, but an invitation to discussion," he said. "My negotiating tactic is very simple: Both you and me need to take a piece of paper and write down what you want and what I want. Take the two pieces of paper and try to find something in common there, even if it's something minimal, and use it a start for solving problems."