Russia’s ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov can’t get meetings with senior officials at the White House or the State Department. He can’t convince U.S. lawmakers to see him, much less take a photo. It’s the rare American think tanker who’s willing to admit to having any contact with the envoy, Politico reports.
The Russian embassy maintains what he describes as “technical” - or lower-level - contacts with the administration of President Joe Biden. But he bemoans a dearth of engagements with senior administration officials, and he says his letters to U.S. representatives and senators seeking meetings since Biden’s election have been met with rejections.
This can’t continue forever, he says.
“We are doomed to cooperate on various issues,” Antonov said. “It’s impossible to imagine even under such circumstances that problems of strategic stability, climate change, coronavirus, fighting against terrorism, fighting against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction could be solved without active engagement of the United States and Russia.”
