"Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's visit to North Korea and Vietnam has landed the Americans in a puddle. Their policy of dictatorship, their policy of sanctions, has completely failed. It has once again been confirmed that the countries of the Global South are watching with great attention what the Russian Federation is doing, are reaching out to us,” Antonov told reporters.
US 'Shivering' From Russia's Successes
The US authorities are “shivering” from Russia’s successes, they are avoiding a serious conversation with Moscow, including a discussion of President Vladimir Putin's peace initiatives, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said.
"You see that the [US] administration is shivering from the success that we are demonstrating. Look at what is happening at the Capitol when new laws are being put forward to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. In essence, many officials are simply running from us and don’t want to start a serious conversation, ignoring the proposals that our president put forward regarding, first of all, settlement of the situation in Ukraine,” Antonov told reporters.
He also said he sees no prospects for even a pause in the degradation of Russian-US relations, not to mention their improvement.
“I would like you to understand: I don’t see any prospects, opportunities even for some kind of a pause, not warming, not improvement, but a pause [in deterioration] of Russian-American relations,” Antonov told reporters.
Russia Will Not Discuss Arms Control With US Separately From Other Issues
Russia is not evading dialogue with the United States, but does not consider it possible to separate strategic arms control from the general package of issues, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said.
Earlier, the US National Security Council told Sputnik that the United States is open to talks with Russia on nuclear risks and arms control, but without reference to the Ukrainian conflict.
“Our position in this regard is very simple - it is just impossible to separate the issue of arms control from the total number of problems that exist between our two countries... We have always said that we are ready to talk. Let’s talk about problems in general terms,” Antonov told reporters.
It is impossible to resolve the issue of disarmament when Russian strategic targets are attacked by Ukraine with American weapons, the diplomat added.
Antonov said that in the coming days he will have a meeting with White House officials, and he will ask them where the United States is heading in relations with Russia.
“In the coming days, I have a meeting with representatives of the White House. I want not from the press, but specifically to raise this issue with them, so that they give us a clear answer about where America is heading in relations with the Russian Federation,” Antonov told reporters.