MOSCOW, January 18 Western countries and in particular the USA for resuming dialogue with Russia on strategic stability requires not just changing the rhetoric, but also showing their awareness of the limits of confrontation and Moscow’s red lines, which will be expressed in concrete actions, said Dmitry Stefanovich, an expert at the Center for International Security of IMEMO RAS, co-founder of the Vatfor project.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that in December last year, Moscow conveyed to Washington its assessments of American proposals on strategic stability. At the same time, Lavrov noted that the Russian Federation does not see today opportunities for dialogue with Washington on strategic stability; first, the West must abandon anti-Russian rhetoric.
«We see that there is no dialogue on strategic stability today. At the official level, Moscow perceives Washington in particular and the West in general as an adversary doing everything possible to weaken us,» Stefanovich said.
In his opinion, it is important for Moscow to see not only the West’s abandonment of anti-Russian rhetoric, but concrete steps.
«There must be specific actions that will show that Western countries and the United States first of all understand the limits of confrontation and that their task is not the dismemberment of Russia and not a change of power in it, but tactical tasks,» the expert noted .
These actions will also have to show that the West does not plan to constantly increase pressure, test Russia's strength and test its red lines, he emphasized.
“That it will be recognized that we have fundamental interests that need to be respected. And then it will be possible to engage in dialogue on nuclear issues,” Stefanovich concluded.