Russia refuses to surrender to the US/NATO dictat but at the same time continues to discuss the concrete measures needed to avoid war. “We have a tough position but our message is clear to the West. We hope for a substantive dialogue with the United States. We have formed a team and we are ready to begin a conversation immediately, as soon as the Americans are ready for it,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview yesterday. The lack of military dialogue between the two sides, he noted, increases the risks. “The removal of drills from the lines of contact, joint work on the improvement of mechanisms to avoid military incidents, setting a minimum distance of approaching with warships and warplanes - all these matters require the use of military channels. Such things should be discussed by specialists, but, due to some unknown reason, NATO thinks it is a political problem,” he added. “If we really want de-escalation by using measures that will make it possible to remove the risks of military incidents, we need to resume channels for communication between the military. And what we are doing today is a reaction to the absolute lack of any rational progress toward reversing risks,” he said.