Kremlin reveals conditions for negotiations with the US
(Baonghean.vn)- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is still ready to negotiate with the US but will only agree to comprehensive discussions on all issues of concern.
Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said on March 26 that the diplomatic mission had only had “temporary” contacts with the US government since the terrorist attack in Moscow on the evening of March 22, but that next week they would discuss “bilateral relations, how we can continue to live together, and whether there is any chance that the Russian-American relationship will not be completely destroyed.”
Moscow has the “political will” to negotiate with Washington, but “is in favor of a comprehensive discussion of all issues,” Peskov said. “President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that we are ready for dialogue and we believe that we need to discuss all issues in a comprehensive manner. You cannot take some issues out of the general context that governs our bilateral relations,” Peskov added.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last November that Russia was trying to determine whether it made sense to talk to the United States in the current circumstances. Washington severed almost all ties with Moscow in February 2022, citing the conflict in Ukraine. In August of that year, Ambassador Antonov said that “only fragments remain,” referring to a de-escalation hotline in Syria, space exploration and some work related to non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
However, Russia has since suspended its participation in the New START nuclear arms control treaty, citing US claims of causing “strategic defeat” to Moscow by arming and funding Ukraine.
Mr. Peskov said last month that Russia did not see any “political will” from Washington to engage in meaningful negotiations with Moscow./.