UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, US President-elect Donald Trump said that the US sanctions against Russia could be lifted in exchange for a bilateral agreement on reduction of nuclear weapons.
“Dialogue is key to solving all issues, however, it would be naive to think that Moscow would change its approach for that or other reason,” Ryabkov said. “This approach is tied to the Russian national interests.”
Commenting on Trump's recent statement Ryabkov said that the two sides were not discussing the criteria of sanctions relief.
"We have not discussed the criteria of sanctions relief. We are not discussing it. All these sanctions were introduced under artificial and illegal pretexts," Ryabkov said adding that Russia was ready for talks taking into account the country's national interests.
The latest sanctions were proposed by the United States as a retaliation for Russia's alleged meddling in US presidential elections, a claim that Moscow has also repeatedly denied.
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