Russia ‘will not allow US to speak to it from position of force’

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the Russian government will allow no one to speak to Moscow "from the position of force."

"The Americans keep repeating like a mantra: 'We will speak with everyone from the position of force.' Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor anyone else in the Russian leadership will let the Americans or someone else talk to us like this. This is ruled out," Peskov said in an interview with Russia's Argumenty i Fakty newspaper published on Tuesday.

Peskov also called the possibility of Russia severing diplomatic ties with Washington an "extreme scenario" and declined to comment about that outlook.

The Kremlin spokesman said Moscow was focusing on Russia-US relations under the new US administration, saying there were issues that the two sides needed to discuss, including "strategic stability, arms control, and efforts to resolve regional conflicts."

Over the past years, relations between the US and Russia have turned sour over a number of contentious issues, including Syria, Ukraine, allegations of Russian interference in US presidential elections, and the case of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

Under the previous US administration, Washington withdrew from a major arms control treaty with Russia and imposed several rounds of sanctions on the country.

New US President Joe Biden, who took over in January, has adopted a similarly hostile posture against Moscow. In an insulting remark earlier this month, Biden even called Russian President Putin "a killer."

That prompted Russia to recall its ambassador to the US for consultations. But Moscow ruled out the possibility of severing ties with Washington over the matter.

Russia recalls ambassador from US after Biden calls Putin ‘a killer’

Russia has recalled its ambassador to the US after Biden called Putin “a killer”.

Biden also recently authorized the release of a 15-page declassified report that accuses Putin of having likely directed efforts to try to manipulate the 2020 presidential election to benefit the then-incumbent president and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The Russian Embassy in the US described the report as "another set of baseless accusations against our country for interfering in American domestic political processes."

Similar allegations had been brought forth about Russia in 2016.