SOCHI. June 20 (Interfax) - Moscow understood a long time ago that it needs to bolster its own security given the United States' inability to reach agreements, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.
"When the U.S. president announced withdrawal from this agreement [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran] a little over a year ago, he also announced his intention to work toward a broader agreement that would also cover other issues beyond the Iranian nuclear program. But nothing concrete has been said over this year, no proposals have been put forward and nothing other than declarations and verbal signals in favor of launching some new process has followed," Ryabkov said.
"In our opinion, it is a reflection of the fact that the number of instruments in the U.S.' foreign policy arsenal besides pressure, either sanctions pressure or, in this case, military pressure, keeps shrinking, and the leaders of this country are basically not ready to apply such instruments at least to countries it sees as unwelcome," he said.
It is a dangerous tendency for the entire international situation, he said.
"We concluded a long time ago that it is necessary to substantially and persistently strengthen our own security. Otherwise, we could find ourselves in a situation where such policy would even further heighten the risks which are already aplenty," Ryabkov said.