Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS that Moscow and Washington have held diplomatic talks over the situation in the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. “We had contacts with the U.S. administration in Donbas. We have exhaustively conveyed what is going on to the U.S. side,” TASS reported his remarks. Warning that Ukraine and the United States are coordinating an aggressive policy in the area, Ryabkov said, “Washington must be concerned by the consequences of this coordinated policy. I see no point in going back to this topic.”
On April 5, a U.S. Department of State representative had stated that Washington is open for interaction with Moscow on the situation in eastern Ukraine, and urged Russia “to refrain from action that could lead to an escalation.”
Meanwhile, sources in Moscow have told TASS that Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov will not be returning to Washington anytime soon. “It is too early to speak about specific dates for the return of Ambassador Antonov to Washington. Fundamentally, everything depends here on the American side that must do at least something towards the normalization of relations,” an unnamed source said, and that “so far it is too early to speak about them.”
