Marin Independent Journal

Russian diplomat says ties with US are in major crisis

- By Vladimir Isachenkov

Russia-U.S. relations are in a state of “unpreceden­ted crisis” without any sign of improvemen­t, a senior Russian diplomat said Thursday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov argued that the White House's emphasis on increasing weapons supplies to Ukraine to ensure Russia's defeat leaves no room for diplomacy.

“I don't see any prospect for a productive political and diplomatic process,” Ryabkov said at a briefing. “We have a very deep and unpreceden­ted crisis in Russia-U.S. relations. The Biden administra­tion has driven them into a deadlock.”

Ryabkov warned that the U.S. and its allies must carefully assess the risks stemming from supplying increasing­ly powerful Western weapons to Ukraine.

“The Americans need to thoroughly and deeply weigh the risks linked to their unabashedl­y cavalier course,” he said.

Ryabkov noted that Moscow doesn't trust Western statements about self-imposed restrictio­ns on a range of weapons supplied to Ukraine in order to avoid escalation, adding that such assurances in the past have served as cover for a steady expansion of the assortment of arms deliveries.

“We don't see any sign of reason in any of the NATO and EU members' capitals,” Ryabkov said. “What they are doing isn't going to strengthen their security.”

He rejected the U.S. argument that Russia's refusal to allow the resumption of inspection­s of its nuclear facilities represents a breach of the New START treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between the two countries.

The New START treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The agreement envisages sweeping on-site inspection­s to verify compliance.

Just days before the treaty was due to expire in February 2021, Russia and the United States agreed to extend it for another five years.

 ?? MAXIM SHEMETOV — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia on March 15, 2022.
MAXIM SHEMETOV — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia on March 15, 2022.

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