Anatoly Antonov: Russia and U.S. no longer partners

Russia’s ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Moscow and Washington are no longer partners.

“As for me, I’m still sure we should be partners,” he told Politico. “Previously, I would say that we are partners. Now we are not partners. It’s a pity.”

“You have to decide who we are for you,” Antonov said. “Whether we are partner for you, whether we are rival for you, whether we are opponent, or I don’t want even to use this word, ‘enemy.’”

The Russian envoy notes that neither country has severed diplomatic relations. The Russian embassy maintains what he describes as “technical” - or lower-level - contacts with the administration of President Joe Biden. But he bemoans a dearth of engagements with senior administration officials, and he says his letters to U.S. representatives and senators seeking meetings since Biden’s election have been met with rejections.

“We are doomed to cooperate on various issues,” Antonov said. “It’s impossible to imagine even under such circumstances that problems of strategic stability, climate change, coronavirus, fighting against terrorism, fighting against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction could be solved without active engagement of the United States and Russia.”