|
 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told parliamentary deputies
that ties between Moscow and Washington were in a very deep chill
and were likely to remain so if the sanctions remained for a long
time.
"It is hardly a secret that the goal of the sanctions is to create
social and economic conditions to carry out a change of power in
Russia," Sergei Ryabkov told a hearing in the lower house. "There
will be no easy or fast way out of this."
He said he did not expect the United States to recognize Crimea as
part of Russia "for decades to come" and accused Washington of
trying to drive a wedge between Russia and the other former Soviet
republics.
 Ties between Russia and the United States took a dive this year as
the Cold War-era foes traded accusations over the crisis in Ukraine,
and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Washington of seeking
"regime change".
President Vladimir Putin has portrayed Western sanctions as an
attempt to contain Russia and punish it for becoming strong and
independent.
[to top of second column] |
State media have often repeated this message and an opinion poll
released by the independent Levada research group on Monday showed
74 percent of Russians have negative views of the United States,
compared to 18 percent who think the opposite.
Levada said the figures marked the lowest point in Russians'
attitudes toward the United States since 1990, the year before the
Soviet Union collapsed.
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska,
Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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