Russia Ready for Dialogue With US on Disarmament - Foreign Ministry

Russia is ready for a dialogue with the United States on the issue of nuclear disarmament, though, it does not mean that Moscow is eager to change its position on this issue, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Monday.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, US President-elect Donald Trump said that the US sanctions against Russia could be lifted in exchange for a bilateral agreement on reduction of nuclear weapons.

“Dialogue is key to solving all issues, however, it would be naive to think that Moscow would change its approach for that or other reason,” Ryabkov said. “This approach is tied to the Russian national interests.”

Commenting on Trump's recent statement Ryabkov said that the two sides were not discussing the criteria of sanctions relief.

"We have not discussed the criteria of sanctions relief. We are not discussing it. All these sanctions were introduced under artificial and illegal pretexts," Ryabkov said adding that Russia was ready for talks taking into account the country's national interests.

The relations between Moscow and the West soured after Washington, Brussels and their allies accused Russia of fueling tensions in eastern Ukraine and introduced a series of sanctions against Russia as a punitive measure. Moscow has denied any involvement in the Ukrainian conflict and introduced countermeasures.

The latest sanctions were proposed by the United States as a retaliation for Russia's alleged meddling in US presidential elections, a claim that Moscow has also repeatedly denied.

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