MOSCOW. May 26 (Interfax) - There are communication channels between Russia and the United States, which are used to discuss particular situations and are occasionally tested, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with the International Affairs journal.
The journal asked Ryabkov whether Russia and the United States had a hotline of the kind that once existed between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. "All necessary communication channels not just exist but are also sporadically tested. Certain technical procedures are performed to make sure that these communication channels are operational," he said.
"There are also occasional phone calls between Moscow and Washington at the official level to discuss specifics of particular situations," Ryabkov said.
"It's a different thing that, for now, we do not see the other side's readiness for serious work on an improvement of the situation," he said.
"All the mechanisms are available, there should be no doubt about that. However, a political will of the other side is a different thing," Ryabkov said.