Russia is not afraid of anyone, not even the United States, said Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov journalist for the American television channel CBS. So he answered the questions: “Russia is afraid of Ukraine? Why are you afraid of Ukraine? Why do you think that you need to protect yourself?”
A senior Russian diplomat spoke to the press ahead of talks in Geneva between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on January 21.
Channel correspondent Elena Raffini “caught” Ryabkov in the wardrobe shortly before the start of the meeting. She wrote on Twitter that the Russian deputy foreign minister was trying to avoid questions asked by her American colleagues.
Earlier, Ryabkov told reporters that the mood of the Russian delegation before negotiations with the United States is good, despite the fact that Washington published a number of contradictory statements the day before.
Negotiations between Lavrov and Blinken have already begun. In front of them, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow does not expect a breakthrough from the meeting, but an answer. However, Blinken said earlier that he was not carrying a written response to Russian initiatives.