Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🎙 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov's interview with 'Izvestia' Multimedia Information Centre (Moscow, June 27, 2024)
#StrategicStability
• So far, I do not see any pre-requisites that would allow Russia and the United States to resume discussions of strategic nuclear arms control future.
• The Americans repeatedly suggested that we [resume the strategic arms talks], but they invariably received the only answer that was possible in the current situation. As long as their behaviour is steeped in nothing but rabid Russophobia, we are not ready for this dialogue.
#BRICS
• Within BRICS <...> there is a consistent increase in the use of national currencies for settlements and in implementing schemes that are protected from Western regulatory pressure. In certain areas, this share already exceeds 80-90 percent.
• So far over 30 countries have already expressed their interest in further rapprochement with BRICS and eventually many of them raise the question of formally joining the association. We cannot but respond to it.
#RussiaUS
• As for lowering the level of diplomatic relations [with the United States and its European partners], I would like to draw your attention to the fact that despite all the upheavals and extreme tension in our relations with what we call the collective West, we have never initiated any steps of this kind. We believe that embassies and their ambassadors are performing an extremely challenging job, especially in the current environment, and we cannot ignore this. We must preserve communications channels, including at the highest level.
• Could lowering the level of diplomatic relations be part of a solution at this point? All I can say is that it can be viewed as a possible option, and we are exploring all these avenues. In Russia, these decisions are taken at the highest level. As long as there are no instructions to this effect, speculating about these prospects is counterproductive. However, our adversaries must know that every step they make brings them closer to a point of no return.
Read in full
#StrategicStability
• So far, I do not see any pre-requisites that would allow Russia and the United States to resume discussions of strategic nuclear arms control future.
• The Americans repeatedly suggested that we [resume the strategic arms talks], but they invariably received the only answer that was possible in the current situation. As long as their behaviour is steeped in nothing but rabid Russophobia, we are not ready for this dialogue.
#BRICS
• Within BRICS <...> there is a consistent increase in the use of national currencies for settlements and in implementing schemes that are protected from Western regulatory pressure. In certain areas, this share already exceeds 80-90 percent.
• So far over 30 countries have already expressed their interest in further rapprochement with BRICS and eventually many of them raise the question of formally joining the association. We cannot but respond to it.
#RussiaUS
• As for lowering the level of diplomatic relations [with the United States and its European partners], I would like to draw your attention to the fact that despite all the upheavals and extreme tension in our relations with what we call the collective West, we have never initiated any steps of this kind. We believe that embassies and their ambassadors are performing an extremely challenging job, especially in the current environment, and we cannot ignore this. We must preserve communications channels, including at the highest level.
• Could lowering the level of diplomatic relations be part of a solution at this point? All I can say is that it can be viewed as a possible option, and we are exploring all these avenues. In Russia, these decisions are taken at the highest level. As long as there are no instructions to this effect, speculating about these prospects is counterproductive. However, our adversaries must know that every step they make brings them closer to a point of no return.
Read in full