Russia-West Relations at Point of No Return - Zakharova

By Staff, Agencies

Russia underlines that it has moved from having normal relations with the United States a long time ago in light of the most recent round of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington.

"Business as usual" in relations with the United States will no longer work, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Friday.

"No, we stopped doing business as usual with them a long time ago. This is already a non-existent concept," Zakharova told Russian Channel One.

Relations have been extremely tense between Russia and the United States in light of Moscow's special military operation in Donbass against Ukraine's aggression on Donetsk and Lugansk.

The West has failed to impose on Moscow the idea that they are exclusive and that Russia is a colony, she said.

In relations with the United States and the West, Russia has approached the line, after which there is a point of no return, Zakharova underscored.

"We proceed from our own interests and security interests, including doing what is beneficial to us as a country, as a people. We defend ourselves, we offered to do it together, we had a dialogue and offered a lot within the framework of collective security," the Russian diplomat added.

She asserted that Russia moved on to the next stage when its demands were not fulfilled: "What are our guarantees, given that you do not offer collective creativity. When they blocked this option as well, we began to proceed from our pressing interests."

Zakharova stressed that Russia's actions were not its choice, reminding that Moscow always took action based on dialogue. However, "When these options were closed one by one by the Anglo-Saxons, we began to act differently."

The Russian diplomat explained that Russia acting in a different manner was not due to threats, "But the question is that we come to that line after which the point of no return begins."

What Zakharova is referring to is the West’s decline in responding to Moscow's proposals on security guarantees on NATO's eastward expansion, and the Kremlin’s special operation in Donbass regarding its concerns over the federation's security.