MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The US anti-Russia sanctions have failed to result in the fundamental change of the situation in eastern Ukraine, US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper published in Russian.
Answering the question, whether he thought the US restrictive measures against Russia had the intended effect, Tefft said, that fact had been acknowledged by Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as a number of other country's officials.
However, these sanctions have not obviously lead to the drastic change in the situation in Ukraine, Tefft noted, adding that Russia, in his point of view, has still paid significant price for its alleged use of force in relation to Ukraine. This primarily concerns the financial markets, the diplomat, who is completing his mission in Moscow, noted.
If progress in the settlement of Donbass conflict is achieved, the US authorities will be ready to lift a part of sanctions, Tefft said. But there have been no discussions on this issue in Washington over the lack of progress in the regulation of the crisis in Ukraine, the ambassador pointed out.
However, John Tefft said that he hoped the so-called wars between Moscow and Washington were over, adding that the United States was ready to move forward in bilateral ties.
Tefft said, citing US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, that within the framework of an exchange of restrictions, introduced by the two states, both Moscow and Washington had ensured parity and the United States was ready to turn the page and move forward.
Speaking about the critical statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry as for Washington's linking the US visa issuing terms to the number of the diplomatic personnel working in Russia, the outgoing ambassador said that this criticism was unjustified.
On September 2, the United States shut down Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco and trade missions in New York City and in Washington, DC. US officials said the move came in response to Moscow's decision in late July to reduce the number of US diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people, the same number of diplomatic personnel Russia has in the United States.
