Russia clearly recognizes that there are Americans that “want peace, they want cooperation... and they regard Russia as a potentially significant partner, despite all propaganda,” according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. He was briefing reporters at the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum. According to TASS](https://tass.com/politics/2209417), he said that they are not amongst the so-called political elite. Rather, “it seems like reasonable forces are forming outside of the current Congress.” Ryabkov explained that, in “the case of the US, we can clearly see a big gap in the approach to international affairs between elites, including the Congress component, and people who are removed from politics.”
Ryabkov was speaking today at the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, where delegations from 48 African countries came to Moscow. He also reported on deliberations with Washington: “We are currently engaged in close, intensive dialogue with the Trump administration. We expect the US president’s and his team’s efforts on the Ukrainian track, in particular, to reach a point where we can really speak about ensuring a sustainable and reliable settlement...” However, they are aware that the “experience of the past meetings in general have demonstrated the rather vigorous opposition of the so-called war party, which is first and foremost represented by European capitals, to the rational approaches of the Trump administration. This creates false hopes in Kiev and essentially prolongs the conflict. We have seen this before. We don’t want this story to repeat itself now that the upcoming meeting in Abu Dhabi is being discussed seriously. We will counter it.”
He dismissed the path of Europe up to now: “No sanctions and no attempts to invoke this trite rhetoric about Russia’s so-called isolation will move us off this path. We will continue to cooperate with everyone: Africans, BRICS participants, and our neighbors in the vast Eurasian region... So there is a lot to do, and former colonial powers aren’t the only fish in the sea.” The Russia-Africa two-day forum is a part of this.
Western countries are missing such an opportunity as they cannot get over the loss of territories, which “they once considered subordinate to them out of colonial domination, nor can they accept the sovereign decision of African states and people to seek partners around the world who are willing to cooperate equally. This is where the events in London and Paris come from; these are their colonial instincts speaking.”
Rather: “It is high time to think about what has led to these events and what domestic tensions in these countries are provoking their populations to take such drastic measures to express their protest.