Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov returned to Washington, DC, on 20 June following last week's first meeting between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, in which the heads of state agreed to send the nations' respective ambassadors back to their missions.
Russia has sent a series of proposals to the U.S. on how both countries can stabilise bilateral relations, Russian Ambassador Antonov said on Monday.
"Today I sent a number of requests and addresses to various U.S. organisations to meet with the leadership of different structures, to discuss what we should do together to implement the positive mood that we think we took from the summit of our two presidents, [the mood for]... stabilisation of Russian-American relations, which will allow U.S. to talk about improving these bilateral ties in the future", Antonov told reporters.
He also added that the overall improvement of bilateral relations with the U.S. depends on the political will in Washington. Moreover, Antonov emphasised that Russia is set to constructively build towards equal, pragmatic relations with America.
"Today everything depends on the political will of the United States - whether it is ready to implement those positive words that were said by our two presidents in Geneva", Antonov stressed.
He underscored Russia's "constructive disposition" to build "equal and pragmatic" relations with the US.
According to the ambassador, in the coming days, Russia hopes to discuss with the U.S. how to implement the provisions of the strategic stability statement. And talks with U.S. counterparts on visa issues will resume in the near future.
"We managed to get in touch with colleagues from the State Department today, and specific meetings will take place in the coming days. Let's wait, I think it will take a little time, and we will already be able to talk about specific results", he said.
Among other problems requiring close attention, Antonov named the issue of seized Russian diplomatic property.
Moreover, he stated that Moscow has raised the security equation in Russia-US relations. ■