Anatoly Antonov said that Moscow will prevail in its current conflict with the West
Activists hold a large national flag in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 12, 2023. © Sergey Pivovarov / Sputnik
Moscow is open to friendly relations with all countries that are ready to respect its national interests, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Monday.
“Our country has proven itself as a reliable partner to everyone who is ready to cooperate with us on the basis of mutual respect and the balance of interests,” Antonov said during the Russia Day reception in the embassy, as quoted by news agency TASS.
“We are on the right side of history, and time will put everything in its place,” he added.
The diplomat said that it is in Moscow’s interest to have “constructive” relations with all nations, especially the US, given the “special responsibility the two nuclear powers have in terms of strategic stability and global security.”
However, the Western countries are attempting to “inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield, turn it into an international pariah, and disrupt the Russian economy,” Antonov said. He argued that “the return to the principle of undivided security is the only way to prevent conflicts in the future.”
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Moscow has repeatedly said that it views the expansion of NATO eastward as a threat and cited the Western military aid to Kiev as one of the reasons it had launched its military operation in the neighboring state in February 2022.
The US and its allies have since imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia and supplied Ukraine with heavy weapons, including modern tanks and artillery systems. Officials in Moscow have argued that this makes NATO members de facto direct participants in the conflict.
