The future of the conflict in Ukraine will show whether the United States really intends to restore its relations with Russia. This was stated in an interview with TASS by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, News.bg reports.
According to him, the revival of a full-fledged and constructive strategic dialogue between Moscow and Washington - including on issues such as arms control - requires a stable military-political foundation. It must be expressed in a consistent normalization of bilateral relations.
“Washington's commitment to respect Russia's fundamental interests must be the basis of any normalization,“ Ryabkov emphasized. According to him, the nature and origin of the Ukrainian crisis, which he believes was caused by previous US administrations and the West as a whole, make the conflict a kind of test of the US's readiness to restore dialogue.
Stopping NATO expansion remains one of the most critical issues for Moscow. The ongoing conflict between Russia and the West, according to Ryabkov, cannot be resolved without prioritizing this issue.
“The US side must take concrete steps aimed at eliminating the deep causes of the disagreements in the security sphere between us,“ the diplomat said. “These reasons include, first of all, NATO expansion. It is simply impossible to resolve the current conflict without paying attention to this fundamental problem.“
Ryabkov pointed out that Washington seems to be aware of the complexity of the situation, which explains the lack of hasty initiatives from the US side on the issue of arms control. So far, according to him, Russia has not received any specific proposals in this direction.
He also noted that reducing NATO forces in Eastern Europe would benefit the security of the entire continent.
“Back in December 2021, we sent proposals to Washington and Brussels, in which we insisted on legally binding and long-term guarantees of non-expansion of NATO to the east, as well as preventing the deployment of strike weapons near our borders,“ Ryabkov recalled. He added that Russia's position on the issue remains unchanged.
When asked about the information that the Pentagon could withdraw up to 10,000 American troops from the region, Ryabkov said: “Time will tell what agreements the United States and the European Union will reach.“
In conclusion, he pointed out that leading figures in the European Union, especially in Brussels, remain strongly influenced by anti-Russian ideology. “It is not my job to analyze the internal nuances of their debates,“ Ryabkov said.