Ambassador Antonov Stresses U.S. Doesn’t Hide That It Seeks the Strategic Defeat of Russia

Feb. 2, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov, speaking on Rossiya-1 TV yesterday, told his fellow Russians that the United States goal is the strategic defeat of Russia, to wipe Russia off the world’s political map, reported TASS.

“The political circles in Washington do not hide the goal of their war on the Ukrainian territory, and my tongue did not slip—to inflict a strategic defeat to Russia, to exhaust and to wear down our country. ... They want to drive a wedge between us and former Soviet republics, they threaten them with sanctions, they persuade them that all cooperation with us must be stopped and all ties must be cut. The Russophobes have decided to cut Russia’s name from the political map of the world. These ideas are not propaganda slogans and not a figure of speech. This is indeed a real situation in our relations,”

he said bluntly.

As for the New START strategic arms treaty, Antonov stated that nothing is on the table to replace it when it expires in 2026. But, Antonov stressed, Moscow is ready to make a constructive assessment of U.S. proposals on strategic security—as soon as Washington reconsiders its anti-Russian stance:

“A question arises as to what should be done for the [New START] Treaty to work in full? It’s very simple: the United States should make a revision of their anti-Russian policies. They should refrain from an ambition to defeat or deal a strategic blow to the Russian Federation, and then we will be ready to take a constructive look at U.S. proposals. Otherwise, any progress on our part would hardly be justified.”

Antonov reiterated that Washington had been ignoring Moscow’s concerns for years. The Russian Federation still views the New START Treaty “as important and useful. We proceed from the fact that the treaty still ensures predictability in relations between the largest nuclear powers.”

Antonov argued that the U.S. has made “an important strategic mistake. They have, in fact, started a conflict with two nuclear powers, or putting it into simple words—they are trying to fight on two fronts. One should take a look at news reports delivered by the Pentagon via major U.S. media outlets, in which they state that Washington prepares for war with China over Taiwan.

“Once again, red lines were mentioned there. However, there are no red lines, and frankly speaking, I can hardly imagine how Americans will start direct hostilities with China over Taiwan.” This, Antonov added, “at the same time, Americans keep reiterating that they are committed to their policy of One China,” that acknowledges Taiwan is part of China.