MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian envoy to the United Nations, in remarks published on Sunday, said Russia was waiting for “appropriate signals” from Washington on contacts with Moscow, but he had few expectations for better ties with Washington’s delegation at the U.N.
Vasily Nebenzya’s comments, in an interview with Russia’s state-run news agency RIA, were issued before U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed the U.S. was making progress in talks with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Trump provided no details on a recent discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin but added he expects more conversations.
Nebenzya told RIA Russia was ready for talks with the United States on Ukraine “on an equal basis”.
“We are open to contacts but on an equal basis and, as a requirement, taking account of Russian interests,” Nebenzya, who serves as Russia’s permanent representative to the U.N., told RIA.
“We are waiting for the appropriate signals from the American side.”
Trump, who has promised to end the war but not yet set out in public how he would do so, said last week that the United States was talking to both the Russians and Ukrainians about resolving the conflict, but he gave no additional details.
In an interview from Air Force One on Friday, Trump told the New York Post that he had “better not say” how many times he and the Russian president had spoken. He also did not disclose when the latest conversation had taken place.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he could neither confirm nor deny the report.
In his comments, Nebenzya said relations with U.S. delegations at the U.N. had been “pretty good”. But he singled out the U.S. team that chaired the U.N. Security Council at the close of President Joe Biden’s mandate as “one of the worst” for violating U.N. procedures.
Nebenzya said Russia was ready to work with U.S. diplomats at the U.N. although Washington’s representatives had resorted to “extremely politicised diplomacy.”
RIA quoted Nebenzya as saying he had “no high expectations” things would change under Trump. He said statements by the administration and its representatives were often “aimed at domestic audiences or party interests.”
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Diane Craft)
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