Russia discusses long-range weapon deployment with closest partners
Shafaq News/ Russia is in talks with its closest partners about the deployment of long-range weapons, TASS state news agency reported on Wednesday, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
In an interview with TASS, Ryabkov indicated that Moscow has "closest partners" in Asia and Latin America, with whom the security situation is being addressed substantively, not merely through an exchange of assessments.
"The issue of deploying long-range weapons is being raised with a number of our partners," Ryabkov told TASS without naming any countries.
He added that these discussions are held "with full respect" for the obligations that these countries may bear under international treaties, including those to which Russia is not a party.
President Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea on Wednesday has heightened concerns in the United States and its allies that Moscow could provide aid for Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs, which are banned by UN Security Council resolutions.
Ryabkov also highlighted that diplomatic contacts between Russia and the United States have been reduced to an absolute minimum, focusing chiefly on embassy, visa, and humanitarian issues, with the potential for further deterioration.
"Our contacts with the Americans are reduced to an absolute minimum, both in terms of quantity and content," Ryabkov stated, according to TASS. "As for political subjects, there is nothing except episodic contacts on the sidelines of international organizations."
Ryabkov also warned that diplomatic relations might worsen in response to U.S. moves to confiscate Russian assets. "Lowering the level of diplomatic relations is in the arsenal of means," he said.
In response to Russia's war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia's central bank and finance ministry and blocked about $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West, most of which are in European, not American, financial institutions. Last week, the Group of Seven rich democracies agreed to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets to give Ukraine $50 billion in loans.
