WASHINGTON DC (RIA Novosti): In relations between Russia and the United States over the past year, although small, but positive shifts have been outlined, said Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov.
“US President Joseph Biden agreed to our proposal to extend the START Treaty for five years without any conditions. The summit of the leaders of the two countries was held in Geneva in June. The meeting was rich and productive,” th annual meeting of the Fort Ross Dialogue Forum.
As Antonov noted, Washington and Moscow managed to establish, among other things, a stable dialogue through the security councils and foreign affairs agencies. There are expert contacts on climate issues, the development and protection of the Arctic, business interaction continues, and trade is growing.
“Nevertheless, these are just sprouts on the path of improving our relations. Much work remains to be done to create a foundation for further progress,” the ambassador stressed.
He added that Russia is offering the US a positive program of action, starting with zeroing restrictions on diplomatic presence.
At a meeting in Geneva on June 16, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden agreed to return to the capitals ambassadors who had been recalled for consultations due to deteriorating relations. Antonov, invited to Moscow in March, returned to the United States in July.
In recent years, the working conditions for Russian diplomats in the United States have steadily deteriorated. As Antonov noted, Moscow was completely deprived of its consular presence on the West Coast of America, where tens of thousands of Russians live. In addition, massive expulsions of diplomats are regularly occurring. Washington has also drastically tightened visa procedures.
On October 5, a bipartisan group of US senators wrote a letter to President Joe Biden, in which they called for an ultimatum to be delivered to Russia: Moscow must expand the staff of the American embassy, or 300 Russian representatives will be expelled from Washington.
In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that there are no such number of diplomats in the American capital. The department suggested that the congressmen, “not possessing the appropriate knowledge in international relations,” also counted Russian diplomatic staff working in the permanent mission to the UN.
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