Moscow tells US to ‘back off’ with ‘aggressive’ course – RT Russia and the former Soviet Union
Russian foreign policy will not be dictated by Washington, deputy foreign minister says
The United States is taking an increasingly aggressive stance toward Moscow, but no amount of economic sanctions and political pressure can stop it from defending its national interests, a senior Russian diplomat has said.
Moscow’s diplomacy vis-à-vis the United States is an exercise in « crisis management », Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with Russian television on Monday. He described American behavior as being « increasingly confrontational and disturbing. »
« We can see how [the Americans] are trying to mobilize their satellites, their vassals to confront Russia in a more aggressive and intransigent way”, said the diplomat. « Washington’s irresponsible, extremely aggressive and extremely assertive course brings us all to the dangerous line. We caution against continuing on this course.
The tightrope approach has been evident not only with regard to the crisis in Ukraine, but also in the all-important issue of nuclear non-proliferation and reduction, Ryabkov said. Washington has virtually dismantled the entire strategic arms control architecture and is threatening the last such bilateral treaty with Russia, New START, he pointed out.
According to the diplomat, the heart of the problem is that the United States « didn’t need agreements, which had been signed on the basis of parity, not only served the security interest of the group [of nations] led by the United States, but has strengthened the security of entire regions and the world in general. They are not in line with the hegemonic path that the United States pursues on the international stage.
The deputy minister said he did not expect US policy toward Russia to change anytime soon, as « there is an anti-Russian consensus of the elites » in the USA. But the only viable solution is for Washington to recognize that Russia will not be bullied and act accordingly, Ryabkov added.
“Time and time again we have told our American interlocutors, to use the most neutral term, that they must back down and stop escalating the situation,” he said.
European nations, which have sided with Washington’s anti-Russian campaign, are suffering, the Russian diplomat stressed. In fact, their enslavement to Washington makes them vulnerable to American exploitation, Ryabkov said.
« [The Americans] undermine Europe’s competitiveness, by pumping their products onto European markets, whether military equipment or hydrocarbons, which Europeans would prefer to obtain from alternative sources under different circumstances », he said.
But Washington lacks global support, regardless of what US officials claim Ryabkov said. Dozens of nations representing half of humanity either supported Russia’s position on Ukraine or at least recognized the merits of Russia’s reasoning on the matter, he explained.
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