There is Chance to Normalise Russia-US Relations, Moscow Says
10:09 GMT 06.07.2021 (Updated: 13:19 GMT 06.08.2022)
© AFP 2023 / DIMITAR DILKOFFThis picture taken on March 18, 2021, shows the Kremlin towers in front of the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters. - Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 18 mocked Joe Biden for calling him a "killer" -- saying "it takes one to know one" -- as ties between Moscow and Washington sunk to new lows. US President Biden's comments sparked the biggest crisis between Russia and the United States in years, with Moscow recalling ambassador and warning that ties were on the brink of outright "collapse."
© AFP 2023 / DIMITAR DILKOFF
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - There is a chance to normalise Russia-US relations and it should not be missed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, adding that Moscow is ready to make efforts to this end.
"The chance is not just there, it is bigger than many thought before the [US-Russia] summit, and it will be all even more unforgivable if we miss it now", Ryabkov said in an interview with the magazine Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn, published on Tuesday.
Russia started implementing the agreements that were reached during the Geneva summit immediately after the event, Ryabkov added.
He also noted that Moscow is not ruling out a dialogue with the United States on Russia's latest weapons system if it also includes talks on American priming hypersonic weapons and other issues.
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev / Go to the mediabankRussian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden Meet in Geneva
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden Meet in Geneva
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev
/ "I do not know, but I think that you can't do it without talking about them [Russian weapons systems] But equally, the Americans must proceed from the fact that we will talk about a whole series of their systems that bother us … these are the prospects for the appearance of US intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, this is space, this is US hypersonic [weapons], this is also US systems in conventional equipment, which are designed to solve strategic problems and a number of other aspects", the diplomat said.
Ties between the two countries have been deteriorating over the past few years, which subsequently led to the withdrawal of the US from the INF Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty, despite calls from Moscow and Europe to save the agreements.
However, US-Russia relations received renewed hope after the 16 June summit in Geneva, when Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden agreed to launch strategic stability consultations and reduce the risk of conflict between the world's two dominant nuclear powers.