US doesn’t want to hear Russia on subject of Ukraine, Black Sea region — senior diplomat

Ryabkov

MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/: The situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea region becomes ever more fraught with risks while the US does not want to hear the Russian position on these issues, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Monday.

"We [Russia] don’t even have an approximate impression that [the US] even wants to listen to us and to hear us - for example, on Ukraine and all that is currently going on in the Black Sea region," the senior diplomat emphasized. "A negative energy is being accumulated there, the risks are growing, including potential clashes, with the possibility of escalation," he added.

The deputy foreign minister explained that the policy of Western countries, responsible for Kiev’s actions, becomes even more reckless and provocative. "In general, this negative bravado of the US and its allies and, accordingly, their charges in Kiev - it becomes increasingly more unhinged. Any rational kernels are being observed there less and less. It is permeated both with the provocative rhetoric with regards to us and the material content - also very much so provocative," he concluded.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with the Russia-1 TV channel noted that the US and its NATO allies were conducting unscheduled drills in the waters of the Black Sea using strategic aviation and called it a "serious challenge" for Russia. He also pointed out that the West is not reacting to the use of Bayraktar drones by Ukraine’s authorities in violation of the Minsk Accords.