Russian Foreign Ministry Trump Administration s Statements and Actions Are Highly Contradictory
Russian Foreign Ministry: Trump Administration's Statements and Actions Are Highly Contradictory
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that the statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration contradict their actions, saying, "Despite this, we are moving forward persistently and steadily toward improving bilateral relations."
Speaking at a press conference held in the capital Moscow, Ryabkov addressed current issues.
Referring to the relations between Russia and the United States, he pointed out that the U.S. had postponed a meeting aimed at improving bilateral relations, and said, "This is a technical pause. We expect the date for the third round of consultations with the U.S. to be set as soon as possible."
He noted that the issue of the U.S. appointing an ambassador to Russia remains unresolved and that no request for an agrément has been made from the U.S. side. Ryabkov also mentioned that there had been no developments yet regarding a potential prisoner exchange with the United States.
Ryabkov stressed that the seizure of Russian diplomatic property in the U.S. is unacceptable and that they would continue to exert pressure on Washington over this issue.
He added, “We are not seeing any response to our proposal to resume direct flights between the U.S. and Russia.”
Criticizing the U.S. administration, Ryabkov said, “The Trump administration’s statements and actions are highly contradictory. This makes our work more difficult. Nevertheless, we are moving forward persistently and steadily toward improving bilateral relations.”
"BRICS is not against the United States"
Drawing attention to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose an additional 10% tariff on BRICS countries and other nations adopting similar policies, Ryabkov said that they are closely following these statements and added, “There is nothing new here. We have seen such signals before.”
Ryabkov argued that BRICS is not against the United States and emphasized that such threatening rhetoric aimed at BRICS countries would not yield results.
"This issue needs to be addressed in bilateral talks. It should be resolved through a normal and calm dialogue. We call on the American side to do this," he said.
"We will take possible UK-France nuclear cooperation into account in military planning"
Commenting on the possibility of the UK and France deepening and coordinating their cooperation in the nuclear field, Ryabkov underlined that the nuclear potential of these countries should not be overlooked.
Indicating that such a move would be directed against Russia, Ryabkov stated, "We will take this issue into consideration not only politically but also in military planning."
Ryabkov added that they would continue their initiatives aimed at stabilizing the situation around Iran and that they are in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on this matter.
He said, "We made a proposal for enriched uranium to be brought from Iran to Russia for processing and use in nuclear power plants. Work is ongoing through the IAEA to find a solution to this issue."