Russia says will take seriously any sign for improvement in relations with US

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian deputy foreign minister on Thursday said Moscow will take seriously any sign from the US regarding improvement in relations.

"We will take the slightest sign of readiness to move towards improving very seriously, whether it's public signals, whether it's some actions, but so far, unfortunately, the trend and the tendency are opposite," Sergey Ryabkov told a news conference in Moscow.

The US and its European allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow, and has supplied Kyiv with weapons and supplies in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Ryabkov said Moscow has formally approved Lynne Tracy for the post of the US ambassador to Russia.

"They requested an agreement (formal consent) for it some time ago. They announced just recently that she had just been nominated for this position. And we gave agreement," he said.

Tracy, a career diplomat, was nominated by US President Joe Biden earlier this week.

Asked about reforming the UN Security Council, Ryabkov said Russia has long advocated for the expansion of its permanent and non-permanent members.

"It is commendable that finally the American president has stated what the Russian Federation has been talking about for a long time, in favor of which it speaks out.

"There are candidates who are quite worthy of becoming permanent members of the Security Council," he said.

Currently, the UN Security Council has five permanent members - the UK, US, China, Russia, and France – who have the veto power. Ten members of the Security Council, elected on a geographical basis, have the status of non-permanent members.

Biden, addressing the 77th UN General Assembly session on Wednesday, said the US believed that the UN should undertake more measures to reform its processes and working methods to “become more inclusive so it can become more representative of the world in which we live.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been questioning the unfair order, which gives a few leaders unchecked power, for many years, saying: "The world is bigger than five."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​