Russian ambassador says Kremlin wants to ‘stabilize’ relations with US

A Russian state news agency said on Monday that the Russian ambassador to the United States was looking to stabilize relations with the U.S.

Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said he wanted Russian-American relations to not only “stabilize” but to “develop,” according to a translated version of a report from Russian state news agency RIA. 

“There is potential for this,” Antonov reportedly said on Russian television.

“Many very problems cannot be solved together without the participation of Russia and the United States,” he added, citing issues ranging from COVID-19 to weapons of mass destruction.

Antonov also accused the U.S. of effectively stealing from Russians by blocking certain accounts. 

“You didn’t mention the huge funds that are frozen in American banks. I will say frankly: I think that they were simply stolen from us,” Antonov said in a translated version of another RIA report on Monday.

Since Moscow began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, many Western countries have imposed harsh restrictions against Russia including sanctions on Russian banks, oligarchs, officials and their families.

The U.S. has also placed a ban on imports of Russian energy and signed legislation to end normal trade relations with Russia.

Just last week, the U.S. imposed sanctions on a private Russian commercial bank, Transkapitalbank, which has been used by Russians to conduct transactions instead of the SWIFT international banking communications system.