Russia is seeing small but positive developments in the relations with the United States over the past year, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov said on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2021) Russia is seeing small but positive developments in the relations with the United States over the past year, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov said on Tuesday.
"Over the past year, there have been some small, but still positive developments in the bilateral relations," Antonov said in the opening remarks for the 10th Fort Ross Dialogue. "US President Joe Biden accepted our proposal to extend the New START Treaty for five years without any conditions. In June, the heads of the two states held a summit in Geneva. The meeting had a busy agenda and was fruitful."
Antonov said that Russia and the United States also resumed professional dialogue on strategic stability and cybersecurity.
"Averting an arms race and practicing self-restraint in cyber-competition are critically important for normalizing bilateral ties and preventing escalation of tension into a real crisis," he said. "A sustainable dialogue is held through the Security Councils and Foreign Ministries. There are expert contacts on climate issues, the development and protection of the Arctic. business interaction continues, bilateral trade is growing."
Antonov stressed, however, that these are just the first steps to recover the relations between Washington and Moscow, and there is a lot of work left to be done to establish the foundation for further progress.
"There is much holding the relations back. Problems abound," he said. "Our citizens face difficulties with visas. The Russian diplomatic property seized several years ago, including in San Francisco, has not yet been returned. Further sanctions are introduced."
Antonov said that Russia has proposed a positive plan of action.
"As a first step, we deem it necessary to nullify - on a reciprocal basis - all the restrictions on the diplomatic presence of each other," he said.
Antonov went in to say that currently Russia and the United States are at a crucial point of their bilateral relations and "must not lose this opportunity to translate the spirit of Geneva into practice."
"I am convinced that both countries should seek to promote a unifying agenda," he said. "The current international situation requires that long-needed and overdue decisions be taken to establish interaction on eliminating threats fraught with major human and economic losses. The stakes are too high in combating international terrorism, proliferation of WMDs, climate change, escalation of regional conflicts and spread of deadly diseases."
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden met in Geneva on June 16. The top-level summit covered such issues on the bilateral agenda as cybersecurity and diplomatic personnel, and resulted in a landmark agreement to launch negotiations on strategic stability.
