MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Contacts between Russia and the United States were not interrupted, but Washington chose to freeze the dialogue on a number of major issues, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists on Tuesday.

"The contacts were not interrupted, and we are not initiating the conclusion of contacts with the US, we understand the importance of discussing the current issues. But I would like to note that the initiatives to terminate the dialogue on number of major tracks have been made recently by the Americans themselves," Ryabkov noted.

"This is their choice. I think that some time later, Washington will realize that, for example, strategic stability needs to be discussed, and that this is the issue that needs to be worked out," the senior diplomat added. "The topic is extremely complex, and simply freezing the case because of political pressure is about the same as declaring a ban on civil aviation flights. People have been overcome with hysteria, [they] have lost their self-control and are making such moves," Ryabkov maintained.