WASHINGTON, August 5. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said he doesn’t currently see chances for Russian-US relations to improve or stabilize.

"I don’t think there are any visible chances of Russian-American relations to improve or stabilize in the near future. There is no basis for this," he said in an interview with TASS. "The current administration is encouraging the Ukrainian military to inflict a strategic defeat on us using American weapons. There will be no talk of improving relations on this basis."

Russia remains interested in "pragmatic, equal, civilized relations" with the US and is not looking for confrontation, despite all the current sharp contradictions between the two countries, Antonov said.

"Are bad relations in the national interests of America and Russia? No. We are interested in pragmatic, equal, civilized relations with the United States," the diplomat said. "We, the Russian side, are not interested in confrontation with the United States of America. We do not need irritants, we do not need problems."

"We want to live normally. We want to be able to develop our economy in peace," the ambassador said. "No one is interested in spending money so that it goes down the drain."

However, he pointed to "a huge number of problems and mistrust" in bilateral ties between Moscow and Washington.

"There is no trust, and therefore the question is how it is possible to reach an agreement under these conditions," the ambassador said.

He also mentioned two approaches to US-Russian relations. According to the first concept, it is necessary to negotiate, first and foremost, about arms control, which is "a kind of golden link, <...> which, if pulled, could lift the entire US-Russian relations out of the abyss where they found themselves.

"There is a second perspective, which is the one we are going by now: A buildup of positive elements in bilateral relations, a large inventory of positive moves, progress in US-Russian relations - in the area of trust - should come first and lay the groundwork for us to talk about some agreements in the area of arms control and non-proliferation," Antonov said.

According to the diplomat, both approaches have the right to exist, but Russia "is now committed to the second point of view."

"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.