NEW YORK, December 1. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov described attempts to treat Russia as a dangerous enemy that must be deterred as dangerous and unrealistic.
"In the local information space, one can often hear that Russia is a dangerous and unpredictable enemy that must be deterred by various means. This approach can hardly be described as a far-seeing one," he told the Youth Forum in New York on Saturday. "A focus on diminishing the role of our country in the world is unrealistic and even dangerous."
"I would like to underline that the Russian foreign policy is not anti-American," he said, adding that Moscow was ready for constructive cooperation. "All that we want is respect for our interests, a fair and equal dialogue."
The ambassador added that Russia-related topics in the US media are often very biased and one-sided, citing as an example the November 6 article by New York Times, which alleges that the Carmel Institute of Russian Culture and History at American University "presents too favorable a perspective on Russia."
"It is unclear that a one-sided approach of this kind will not benefit bilateral relations," Antonov said. "That is why I think that our joint task is to form an unbiased attitude to our country, an objective view of it among the Americans."
In his words, the Russian Embassy in Washington counts on Russian compatriots’ contribution into improving bilateral relations.
"I mean countering Russophobic sentiments and solving our key task - building friendly and mutually beneficial Russian-US relations," he said. "I’m sure their normalization is in line with key interests of both peoples."
The Youth Forum, hosted by Russia’s Consulate General in New York, brings together young Russian speakers aged between 18 and 35, who live in the US. Its goal is to promote Russian culture and language and to bring together young Russian-speaking Americans.