The text of a Dec. 8 interview that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov gave on Dec. 9 with International Affairs, a journal published by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offers questions and answers of substance. Headlined “Russia and the United States: Searching for Way Forward,” the dialogue begins with prospects for diplomacy on nuclear weapons control, given that the New START Treaty expires Feb. 5, 2026, and it continues on topics including whether Washington will continue to stand firm on negotiating over Ukraine, when Europeans “insist on unconditional support for the Kiev machine.” On that, Ryabkov commented, “The U.S. Administration demonstrates the ability to stick to its own agenda even when a significant number of other international actors, including U.S. allies, are out of step with it.”
They discuss the nature of NATO, in which Ryabkov warned: “Aggressively minded politicians within NATO and the EU are openly questioning whether to expand the geographic deployment of American tactical nuclear weapons across Europe. They are also persistently advocating for an expansion of so-called ‘joint nuclear missions.’ These missions, I must stress, constitute a flagrant violation of the fundamental tenets of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In short, there is a profound and growing contradiction between NATO’s declarations and its practical actions.”
After many more topics, from the prospects of the BRICS to happenings in the Caribbean, Ryabkov ends by addressing the concept of security in foreign relations. When asked about how “power diplomacy” has become almost dominant in the West, Ryabkov answers:
