US Economic War Threatens To Destroy Bilateral Relations, Russian Foreign Ministry: Not In Our Interests

Maria Zakharova. (Twitter/@mfa_russia)

JAKARTA - The United States has declared economic war on Russia, threatening to completely destroy bilateral relations, but the countries can still agree by adhering to the principles of mutual respect, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

"The declared economic war against Russia threatens to destroy bilateral relations completely," Zakharova said, quoted by TASS, March 25.

"This, of course, is not in our interests. Because we depart from the facts of diplomatic relations and in principle, relations between countries should serve the national interest, the interests of the people living on the territory of our country," said Zakharova.

She stressed that Russia had for years offered the US "a normal and open dialogue, based on the principles of reciprocity and respect for Russia's national interests."

"There may still be a chance to reach an agreement. But if they (the US) go here, they will lose this opportunity once again," the diplomat said.

According to her, Washington's unacceptable behavior was caused by "helpless anger, because the plan to turn Ukraine into anti-Russian and use it as a bridge, to carry out all kinds of attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation failed."

"This anger has practically brought Washington to the point of no return in bilateral relations," Zakharova said.

She added that the United States and its allies carried out direct robberies against Russia and its citizens.

"Apparently, it was not expected that Russia would withstand this blow, and problems, according to the lines of communication, would begin to multiply within the United States itself, not to mention its satellites from the European Union singing along with them. This is at the root of the aggressive rhetoric and personal insults which went beyond all the bounds of decency, which the American President (Joe Biden) did too. They reflected internal turmoil, uncertainty, exasperation with the fact it didn't work, as it always worked before, and as planned this time," Zakharova said.

Zakharova drew attention to the fact that, through Washington's blunder, the Russian diplomatic mission was "literally drained by the expulsion of diplomats."

"The situation is exacerbated by the destructive decision of the United States to stop issuing entry visas to Russian citizens at their embassies in Russia. It is clear that if the diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow are closed, absolutely no one will feel better. It is impossible to solve the problem," she straightforwardly concluded.