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Scott Ritter calls on Americans to visit Russia to overcome Russophobia

The former intelligence officer also separately praised the upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Alaska

MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. At a press conference at TASS, former US intelligence officer and ex-UN inspector Scott Ritter called on Americans to engage in public diplomacy with Russia and visit the country, in order to overcome the Russophobia that has been imposed on them for a long time.

According to him, if Americans continue to refuse to learn anything about Russia, they will not know what will happen next. Ritter urged his fellow Americans to visit Russia, understand it, its people, and their beliefs. The former intelligence officer emphasized that, once they succeed, Americans will see the power of people-to-people diplomacy.

Ritter also separately praised the upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Alaska. He noted that during Joe Biden's presidency, there was no communication with Russia, especially after the start of the special military operation. This is why it is important to talk about peace and support all efforts aimed at achieving it, Ritter said.

On August 8, Trump announced that he was looking forward to meeting with Putin in Alaska on August 15. The plans for these talks were then confirmed by Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov. According to him, the leaders will focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

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