MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti) - A new “reset” in relations between Russia and the United States is unlikely as bilateral cooperation has been practically frozen and Washington has gone ‘rather far’ in anti-Russian rhetoric and sanctions, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Monday.
“I do not see any possibility of a new ‘reset’… because Washington has gone rather far in its anti-Russian rhetoric and attempts to ‘punish’ us for something. It is difficult to roll back to where we were,” Ryabkov said in an interview with Rossiya Segodnya news agency.
The diplomat said it is regrettable to see that the US foreign policy is focused on ‘punishing’ Russia.
“If something happens contrary to their plans, their only reaction is sanctions,” Ryabkov said.
The diplomat’s comments came five years after US President Barack Obama and Russia’s then-President Dmitry Medvedev announced a bilateral relationship “reset” at the 2009 G20 summit in London.
Though the two countries a year later did reach agreement on a nuclear arms reduction treaty, known as START, they have clashed on a number of other issues since then, including the deployment of the missile defense system in Europe, the extradition of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and the need for military intervention in the Syrian civil war.
Relations between Russia and the US have significantly deteriorated over the political crisis in Ukraine. The US has blamed Russia for fomenting tensions in the country, though Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in the issue.
The US imposed sanctions against a number of Russian officials and companies, lobbied the EU to do the same, and threatened Moscow with tougher restrictive measures targeting key sectors of Russian economy.
