Russia's Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov's Interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta

❓ Mr Antonov, how hard is it to organise the embassy’s work given the circumstances at hand? How often do you have the chance to meet with representatives from the US establishment?

We are working under difficult conditions. The climate of our relations has been completely poisoned. Everything is being done to let us know that we are outcasts. They are trying to crush us with wide-ranging sanctions which hurt the embassy’s operations. Our communication with the White House and the State Department are on and off. In-person meetings have been reduced to a minimum. US officials agree to meet with us only on matters that benefit Washington.

Tough restrictions on the duration of our time in the United States have been imposed exclusively on Russian diplomats. The most they can stay is three years at a time whereas other embassies can keep their employees for up to five years. So dozens of our colleagues will have to leave the United States by late 2022 on orders from the State Department.

We are trying to make the administration understand the objective need for a dialogue on an equal footing. The axis of global security still balances on Russian-US relations. Alas, many representatives from the establishment you mentioned continue to build their policies on some divine designs involving their exceptionality.

❓ Is the United States interested in keeping diplomatic relations and communication channels with Russia? Is Congress’ initiative to declare the status of a “sponsor of terrorism” to our country reason enough to curtail them?

Judging from what officials from the administration have to say, the United States is not interested in severing all diplomatic relations with Russia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeatedly made it clear that the United States would like to have two-way communication channels.

Meanwhile, Congress people continue to compete in fomenting Russophobic hysteria and want the State Department to recognise our country as a “state sponsor of terrorism.” They are threatening to pass a special law on this matter.

This step provides for the possibility of imposing impactful economic sanctions, including the seizing of state-owned assets. However, US regulations do not explicitly mention the automatic termination of diplomatic relations.

Notably, declaring us a “state sponsor of terrorism” would be an unprecedentedly cynical decision and would trigger a tough response on our part.

❓ Do you believe that Washington’s support for Ukraine is a lobbying campaign by the American military industrial sector that is trying to recover previous volumes of state contracts after they lost Afghanistan?

The US’s support for the Kiev regime goes back to geopolitics. The main goal is to weaken Russia and hinder the steady course for building a just multipolar world. For the past several decades, Ukraine has been used by Washington to create the most serious threats to our national security and to break the established ties between the Russian Federation and Europe.

The lobbying campaign by American defence manufacturers is rather a by-product of this process, or, if you will, a means to achieve the main goal. At the same time, it is important to remember that the American military industrial sector has never just stood idle. The US, on an all too regular basis, creates hotpots of tensions and instability in various parts of the world, which are then cynically used by the Pentagon’s contractors. There are several examples, including Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and the above-mentioned Afghanistan.

By the way, memories of the US leaving the Islamic Republic are still fresh. The administration was not able to bring peace and security to the region, while the investigation on the viability of huge expenditures on the military campaign are still underway.

The same is happening with Ukraine. For instance, local experts admit that some weapons that are given to the republic end up in the black market, and that the US Department of Defence does not have efficient control over the distribution of aid. As a result, a huge stomping ground for all kinds of fraud has appeared. Weapons will begin to spread in the world, which holds great risks for the security of the Western states themselves.

By the way, the local political experts are more often urging a more thorough monitoring of defence aid to Kiev. In particular, they are talking about the distribution of defence orders as part of the recently approved aid package in a record amount of $2.98 billion. This step by the administration confirms that Washington plans to provide Ukraine with military goods for several years to come.

In doing this, the United States is not bringing peace closer; on the contrary, it puts it off. American companies are manufacturing weapons for the Nazi and terrorist groups that are deliberately shelling the residential districts of Donbass, as well as the Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Kherson regions.

❓ This may sound naive, but is there a chance for Russia to get its diplomatic property back, like in court?

The US authorities have blocked access to diplomatic property in gross violation of international law, primarily the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Local courts do not have jurisdiction over cases like that, so the matter needs to be addressed through political and diplomatic avenues. Our country will only be in a position to administer its property in the United States if Washington resumes its compliance with international obligations. For our part, we will never drop our demand to have Russian diplomatic property returned to us.

❓ What do you predict in terms of the Russian delegation’s chances of getting visas in order to participate in the UN General Assembly? Could the WHO’s rejection of domestic vaccines be an issue?

I’d rather not give forecasts that can be construed in a variety of ways. However, the actual state of affairs is as follows:

We are doing our best to have visas issued to the delegation headed by Sergey Lavrov as soon as possible. The necessary applications have long been submitted to the US diplomatic mission in Moscow. Our embassy has sent documents to the State Department as well.

However, we haven’t heard from them, and visas for the delegation have not been issued yet.

There is little time left before the ministerial week’s main events begin. We hope that at this time the US side will be able to issue visas to our representatives without delay.

Importantly, Washington is prevaricating when it cites consular personnel shortages as the reason. We have issued visas to all US consular officers and this was our priority. To date, the embassy does not have a single visa application pending for US consuls.

As regards non-recognition of our domestic vaccines by WHO, this will not be a problem for the Russian delegation since the United States has exemptions in place for diplomats and official delegations entering the country.

❓ The US has frozen assets and property within its borders that are owned by many Russian businesspeople. Are they asking you for help with this?

US moves to seize Russian citizen-owned property are egregious. It turns out that Washington can take such steps without a trial or investigation in circumvention of international rules and even contrary to America's basic laws on the inviolability of private property.

In fact, the indefinite “freezing” of assets is nothing more than cynical theft. Some odious-minded Congressmen are already hatching ideas on how best to dispose of the seized assets. Interestingly, though, as far as we know, the lawyers are reluctant to provide a clear legal assessment of the authorities’ illegitimate moves.

If you push aside the political underpinnings driving the sanctions pressure, you can clearly see that the entire global economy is being victimised by the White House’s aggressive policies toward Russian owners and CEOs of major corporations, including those of global importance, with the world economy in enough trouble as it is amid multiple converging crises.

Hence, the question: what are Washington’s real goals? The answer is simple. The goal is to throw a wrench in foreign companies’ interaction with Russian companies and thus clear the field for US businesses by way of forcing out their competitors from international markets. Given that, it is not surprising that the US authorities are doing their best to make sure businesspeople are unable to challenge the restrictions imposed on them. In particular, we got word that local law firms have come under tough pressure to avoid helping Russian citizens in any way. Our embassy is making every effort to ensure that the rights of our compatriots, including entrepreneurs, in the United States are respected.

❓ Do you expect yet another round of accusations against Russia given the heated domestic political fight in the US?

The American elite have often blamed their problems on some external influences in recent years. Instead of taking time to thoroughly learn about the events, they pin the blame on someone else. In particular, they created this myth about malicious “Russian interference” in their electoral processes.

This issue is often used to discredit political opponents. When the time is right, it’s dusted off and presented to the public. Now, we are seeing new signs of reviving this alleged plot by “Kremlin agents” to hinder the objective holding of the November midterm elections to Congress.

It is getting so bad that the Department of State is offering rewards for information about individuals or legal entities from Russia who are allegedly involved in manipulating the Americans’ elections.

❓ Are contacts maintained with the American political scientists who have participated in the Valdai Club meetings?

The Embassy pays special attention to interaction with the local expert community, including the analysts who used to take part in this discussion platform.

We believe that one of our main goals at this point is to stabilise Russian-American relations. To that end, it is necessary to communicate. It is important to maintain a dialogue not only with the official representatives of Washington, but also people whose assessments and opinions are important to the administration. It is no secret that there is a practice in the US where political scientists are offered high-level positions in government agencies. It happened when Joe Biden took office.

The Russian diplomatic mission regularly holds meetings with analysts. We are invited to events organised by reputable non-government organisations, including in the online format. These events were not interrupted after the beginning of the special military operation.

Of course, given the progress of anti-Russia hysteria in American society, our dialogue representatives have become more cautious, more reserved and apprehensive. They do not want to be labelled pro-Kremlin propagandists or misinformers just for sharing their opinion.

❓ Are Americans still interested in Russian culture and the Russian language? How many people are studying it? Is cancel culture on everything Russian supported in the United States at the state level?

Despite the ruling circles’ hostile attitude toward our country, Russian culture and art remained very popular in the United States until recently. The situation changed dramatically after our special military operation in Ukraine began, with levels of Russophobia reaching all-time highs. Amidst the sweeping anti-Russia propaganda, Russian culture, which Americans used to enjoy, has become toxic.

Local educational and cultural institutions are refusing to cooperate with Russia. Our artists are being ostracised. Many states and cities are breaking off sister city ties with the Russian cities. It is outrageous to see the Russian museums, which not long ago cooperated with us, renamed “Eastern European” museums and fly Ukrainian flags in support of the Kiev regime. An all-out boycott has been promoted on the Russian media and even classics, such as Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Pushkin and Dostoevsky. The United States is pushing for Russian athletes to be removed from the international arena, including the Olympic Games.

The administration is turning a blind eye to acts of discrimination against everything Russian, and it goes even further by using every avenue to stoke and foment Russophobic hysteria. Ukraine is now at the top of the US’s cultural subjects, and we are accused of destroying Ukraine’s identity with many fabricated claims to back it up.

However, it would be wrong to paint all Americans with one brush since many of them stand up for maintaining cultural, educational and scholarly dialogues, and region-to-region ties.

Many have realised that the Americans themselves stand to lose the most from cancel culture policies. Critics and analysts complain about being unable to enjoy the work of outstanding Russian talents. Slavicists and historians are saying that lack of familiarity with Russian literature is bad for students. The local academic community is also aware of losses from being unable to share experiences with their Russian counterparts.

Ironically, the demand for Russian language studies is on the rise with 35,700 people, of whom about 20,000 are university students, studying it. Russian is taught in 147 schools in 40 states, most of which maintain communication with the embassy.

❓ If it's not classified information, did the diplomatic mission assist in the release of pilot Yaroshenko from the American prison, and is there any progress in talks for an exchange with Mr Bout?

I would like to start by saying that upholding the rights and legitimate interests of Russian prisoners is a priority for the embassy. We are keeping tabs on their health and incarceration conditions.

The inhumane treatment of our compatriots in US penitentiaries is something we cannot put up with. The torture and humiliation of Maria Butina, who was held behind bars for over 18 months, cannot be forgotten.

Having our compatriots released from US prisons is a great victory for us. Maria Butina, Bogdana Osipova, Mira Terada, Oleg Nikitin, and Konstantin Yaroshenko have made it back home safely in recent years.

But the hunt for Russian citizens in third countries continues unabated. Since 2008, we have recorded 58 arrests of Russians in different parts of the world on orders from Washington. The most recent cases include the extraditions of Dmitry Ukrainsky, Alexander Vinnik, and Denis Dubnikov to the United States. Notably, the international community and human rights organisations are oblivious to what is happening.

We will never put up with these kinds of practices. We will continue to push for having all Russians return home and while they are here, to ensure compliance with international law, which the United States is so proud of being a citadel of.

The situation with Viktor Bout and Roman Seleznyov is something that is of great concern to us. These Russians are in prison on trumped-up charges and do not have access to qualified medical help or the necessary medications. Requests from the embassy are being ignored. We are pushing for the immediate release of our compatriots.

With regard to exchanging Russian citizens for Americans serving sentences in Russian prisons, I’m here to say that our country is prepared to discuss this issue, but it will do so within the confines of the channel that was agreed upon by the presidents of Russia and the United States.

The duly authorised agencies from the two countries were asked to find a solution to this issue. It is important to take into account the interests of both sides during the negotiating process and work in a calm and professional manner without unnecessary media hype.

❓ On a personal note, have you had a vacation in recent years, and where does the Russian Ambassador to the United States usually spend it?

If I get a chance to take time off, I usually spend it in Russia. I spend most of my time in Moscow, and most recently – since the time I worked at the Defence Ministry – I go to the southern coast of Crimea to spend a few weeks there. I have a long list of destinations in our country that I would like to visit, primarily UNESCO natural heritage sites ranging from the pristine forests in Komi to the Kamchatka volcanoes. Of course, I dream of going to Siberia, where I was born and raised.

❓ If the State Department were to ask the embassy to form a football team and sort things out on the field, would you accept that offer?

Frankly, I’m not a footballer. But if it were tennis, or even better chess, I would gladly take up the challenge. I think a chess game with Antony Blinken could be interesting.