In a wide-ranging webinar interview with the Center for the National Interest, which also published President Vladimir Putin’s article on the Second World War, Anatoly Antonov, the Russian Ambassador to the U.S., focussed his opening remarks on the question of U.S.-Russia relations. “I have to admit that for now this process resembles walking in a circle without any clear perspective of finding common ground,” he said. “On many occasions, I had to persuade the American public that Russia and the U.S. are not enemies. And that we cannot afford the luxury of not talking to each other, despite all the existing disagreements.
Due to objective reasons, the well-being of the whole planet depends on the quality of Russia-U.S. relations. We must remember that after achieving the common victory in the struggle to preserve the very foundations of the human civilization 75 years ago, Moscow and Washington assumed primary responsibility for maintaining common peace and security, according to the UN Charter.”
The Ambassador lamented the growing trend of “national egoism” with the spread of the coronavirus. He referred to President Putin’s June 18th article on World War II after which the “modern system of international relations” was created, based on the commitment of the victorious powers to “to act collectively, seek for compromises and reject attempts to implement unilateral aspirations.”
“It is our duty to preserve global strategic stability and prevent local conflicts from spreading for such conflicts can evolve into great wars. Today, it is more crucial than ever to strengthen the institutions designed to maintain world order. In this regard, the President of Russia put forward the initiative to convene a meeting of the heads of permanent member states of the UN Security Council. We believe that such a summit would play an essential role in finding ways to improve the international situation and prevent it from following a dangerous scenario with unpredictable consequences.” Russia, he said, was always ready for cooperation.
In response to a question on Putin’s P5 summit proposal, he said: “We have conveyed our proposals on the agenda to our partners. They include key issues affecting global politics, security and economy. The date and venue of such a meeting are yet to be determined. We think that it is important to reach an agreement on the substantive content of the summit before we move forward to organizational details. We are confident in the timeliness and necessity of a direct conversation between the nations bearing special responsibility for security on the planet, about the basics of interaction in international affairs and ways to reduce numerous tensions. The attempts to manage global processes in a unilateral way have obviously resulted in a deadlock.The world needs to establish a democratic system of relations that would envisage the principle of indivisible security, equal opportunities for development and search for the balance of interests of participants of international communication.”
