Sergey Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
"Carefully and responsibly accept each country's ideas"
Cautious about optimistic views on Trump's solution
Strategic stability and arms control talks are "groundless"
Russia has stated that it is ready to hear the opinion of President-elect Donald Trump of the United States on a solution to the Ukraine war, but it has no basis for the view that the U.S. and Russia will resume talks on arms control and other issues.
Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, said to the Russian Interfax news agency on the 9th (local time), "We are ready to listen to President-elect Trump's crisis resolution plan regarding Ukraine," adding, "We accept the ideas presented by each country very carefully and responsibly."
However, Deputy Minister Ryabkov cautioned against optimistic expectations, saying, "The solution that President-elect Trump may propose will not be simple."
After winning the presidential election, President-elect Trump said in an interview with NBC that he has not yet spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin but expects to talk with him soon. President Putin also sent a congratulatory message to President-elect Trump at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club held in Sochi, southern Russia, the previous day, mentioning that he is ready to engage in dialogue with him.
Deputy Minister Ryabkov acknowledged that both sides agree on the necessity of dialogue but distanced himself from the view that talks seeking strategic stability through arms control and other means will be fully resumed. "Russia and the United States are exchanging signals regarding Ukraine at military and political levels, but there is no basis for resuming such talks (strategic stability and arms control negotiations)," he said.
He added, "If Western countries seize frozen Russian assets or if the United States escalates tensions over the Ukraine issue, Russia will maintain the possibility of severing diplomatic ties with the United States."
Deputy Minister Ryabkov also indicated that the possibility of using nuclear weapons remains open if a serious crisis occurs in relations with the West or if the situation in Ukraine worsens.
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