MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - Russia has not initiated a curtailment of contacts with the United States, and the contacts are ongoing, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday.
"Contacts have not stopped, and we are not initiating a curtailment or ending of contacts with the United States. We realize the importance of discussing existing problems but I should say that the latest initiatives aimed to stop the dialogue in a number of important areas have been lately put forward by the U.S. side. It's their choice," Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow.
"I believe that, at some point, Washington will come to realize the need to discuss strategic stability. This is an issue that needs to be considered. The issue is extremely complicated and severing such contacts for a mere reason of the political situation is like banning the flights of civil aircraft. People are hysterical, they have lost self-control, and these are the steps they are taking," Ryabkov said.