destruction of ties
John Sullivan declarationhas made a lot of effort to support US trade in Russia in recent years. According to him, at the beginning of the military special operation in Ukraine, more than a thousand American companies were working in Russia. But “now there are far less than a thousand left, and that number is decreasing by the minute.” At first, the companies “suspended their activities”, but now many have announced their withdrawal from the Russian market. “This worries him,” said the diplomat.
“I have always said that trade relations between the United States and Russia remain one of the last important links between our countries. I spent a lot of time on this issue as it united our countries. All this is now completely destroyed. And I fear that even if our governments are able to bridge the huge gap that has arisen between us, it will take a long time to reestablish trade relations,” he said.
Sullivan noted that Russia and the United States “cannot erase history”, that the Americans “cannot remove Tolstoy from the bookshelves or stop Tchaikovsky’s performance”. The diplomat believes that the cultural ties between the countries continue. But it will take “a lot of effort” to “collect what’s broken” by the events of 2022.
At the same time, Sullivan said the United States and Russia “have several issues for discussion.” However, the countries maintain contacts at the level of NASA and Roscosmos, which “continue cooperation”.
Our cosmonauts and astronauts are still on the International Space Station. Our space agencies are interdependent. To perform certain aspects of working on the space station, Roscosmos needs NASA and vice versa, NASA needs Roscosmos. And the astronauts themselves – and this is not surprising – communicate normally. They are all brothers in space,” he said.
Sullivan added that the cooperation is kept at a higher level. For example, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chief of Staff General Mark Milley are on the phone with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov. According to the diplomat, countries “need to keep these channels of communication open.” Just like “they did at the height of the cold war”.
“Also, we will never completely break up… We can’t just cut off diplomatic relations and stop talking to each other. At least we sit side by side every day at UN Security Council meetings in New York. Whatever it is, it’s better if we talk to each other at the UN, the Security Council,” he said.
He added that the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, considers his actions talented and noted his “excellent work” in strengthening the ruble. The diplomat did not rule out that the impact of sanctions and export control measures will increase significantly in the future.
“If I were a Russian citizen, I would be concerned about the impact these have on the Russian economy – an impact that I believe will be significant,” he said.
Also, John Sullivan said he was concerned about the Russian government’s “militant” rhetoric, which referred not only to diplomatic relations but also to “talk about nuclear weapons and nuclear war.” It also hopes that the bilateral agreement between Russia and the United States on the mutual further reduction of deployed strategic nuclear arsenals (START-3) will be extended in 2026.
closing of embassies
The American diplomat stressed that “embassies in Moscow and Washington remain open”. Countries “did not shut them down even at the height of the Cold War”: the United States had an embassy in Moscow, the Soviet Union an embassy in Washington.
Sullivan said embassies do “some basic things” to keep them open, just like “bank accounts.”
“With Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister, and his colleagues, we are working on keeping our embassies operational, issuing visas to employees, etc. I’m talking about. “We are discussing the situation with the Americans imprisoned in Russia, and of course the Russian government is also discussing the cases of Russian citizens imprisoned in the United States,” he said.
The diplomat reminded the statement of Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, that the embassies of the countries should be closed and each other should be examined with binoculars and weapon optics. Sullivan hopes these words are “a bit of an exaggeration” and that won’t happen.
“We should have embassies. This is the absolute minimum. This is basic. “We should have embassies in Moscow and Washington, not just Russia’s Permanent Mission to the UN,” he said.
But he said there was “likelihood” that embassies and consulates would be closed.
“Maybe there is such a possibility, but I think it would be a big mistake. I think there has been talk in the Russian government of the option of severing diplomatic relations, but I don’t think you can find anyone in the US government who thinks we should close embassies. “I can only imagine the only reason the US had to close its embassy: it might be that it’s not safe to keep it open,” he said.
In addition, he “hopes” that the statements of the Russian side about the possible complete cessation of relations between the countries are “rhetorical exaggeration”.
The diplomat said the US embassy in Moscow is a “huge complex” designed for the life and work of 1,200 people. But now there are “empty” – about 130 employees left.
“Unfortunately, last year the Russian government ordered us to lay off 182 of our employees – these are local employees. Many have been working with us for decades, and by the end of July 2021 they all had to leave. “The emotional wound caused by the loss of this relationship was very deep,” she said.
Sullivan added that the consular service used to be 70 people, but now the numbers are less than five. Due to the lack of staff, they are no longer able to issue visas even though it is “in the interest of the USA for Russians visiting the USA”.