Transcripts For CSPAN Russian Ambassador To The U.S. 20180102

As a Public Service by americas Cable Television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Next, the Russian Ambassador to the United States addresses topics such as russian interference, the syrian civil war, north korea, and u. S. Russian relations. This is about an hour. Ambassador anatov thank you very much. For me, it is a great honor for me to be here. I would like to thank the council for this opportunity to be with you. It is important to discuss a very burning issue, what should we do together . Do we need each other . Are we partners . Are we enemies . Who we are, the United States and the Russian Federation . I dont want to blame anybody for the Current Situation in russianamerican relations, but today is the First Official remarks by me as an ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States. [applause] ambassador anatov i am not a magician. Mr. Ambassador, i want you to stop killing in chechnya. Stop killing gay people in chechnya. I want the gay people left alone in chechnya. We need to protect gay people. Yes, i will be stop killing gay chechnyans. Stop killing gay chechens. Stop killing gay chechens. Stop killing gay chechens. Stop killing gay chechens. [applause] stop killing gay chechens. Stop killing gay chechens. Stop killing gay chechens. [laughter] ambassador anatov you can see our relations are complicated. [laughter] ambassador anatov it seems to me everybody has the right to explain what he wants, how he can see how he sees the Current Situation. It seems to me i also have a right to convey a few remarks to you, trying to explain how we in the Russian Federation understand the Current Situation in russianamerican relations. And i would like also to explain to you how we understand the importance of russianamerican relations. I dont want to offend anyone. I would like to be candid with you. I would like to be transparent with you. I hope there will be another opportunity for me to come here. I hope i will not disappoint you and you will invite me once more. [applause] ambassador antonov an Unprecedented Campaign to the russianamerican relations have suffered and far from the best shape. Today, we are faced with the aftermath of an Unprecedented Campaign to discredit russia in an attempt to punish our country for protecting its interests and pursuing independent foreign policy. Regrettably, relations between our countries are still being politicized and abused. Russia is being groundlessly accused of meddling into the United Statess elections, and other domestic and external problems of the United States. The expulsion of Russian Diplomats, seizure and search of our diplomatic property, along with the removal of state flags of the Russian Federation, infringement of rights of the russian media, all these hostile actions are destroying the foundation of the foundation of the russianamerican cooperation. The russian threat is constantly used as a pretext the socalled transatlantic solidarity, which takes forms of military planning. A clear example is all the hype around military exercises in 2017 conducted by russia and belarus in september. We were accused of preparing for invasion of the baltic countries, for occupation of ukraine. There were rumors that once the exercise was over the Russian Troops would remain in belarus. Naturally none of this happened. , it was all fake news. However, the United States, canadian, german, and british contingents, which were pulled up under the pretext of this , have stayed and are still there in the proximity of the russian borders. Comments are unnecessary. The fact we are not welcome at the u. S. Congress, a place where all kinds of commissions and investigations on socalled russians this year takes place, between itself. Members of the Russian Parliament reached out on multiple occasions to their american counterparts with an invitation to visit moscow or to meet in the United States. No reaction followed. By the way, i have not succeeded in arranging a meeting at the capitol either. It is very strange for me. There is no opportunity for Russian Diplomats to explain how we understand the Current Situation in the United States, how we understand the relationship and the russianamerican federation to congress. They dont want to speak or maybe they are scared to speak to me and my colleagues. But how it is possible to construct bilateral relations . It is impossible to create anything without conversation, without dialogue. The logical outcome of this kind of policy is unfortunate. A heavy burden of missed opportunities of pragmatic cooperation. We cannot attempts to put pressure on us and resolve the right to decidedly respond the hostile actions. The russian side however does not seek confrontation. If open to improving the Bilateral Dialogue, it can only be achieved if relations are built on the equal and mutually respectful by the way, you will see that before my departure to the u. S. , i visited a few senior ministers of the russian government. And i would like to send this message to you, that they would like to promote good relations between the United States and the Russian Federation. Mr. Putin has received me on the eve of my departure to the United States, and one message i have from him is that we need pragmatic, equal relations between the United States and the Russian Federation. One should not forget that russia and the United States as permanent members of the u. N. Security council and two Largest Nuclear powers bear a special responsibility for maintaining global peace and security. Therefore, despite all negativity, we should not shut off from one another. Not look back at the past. But rather forward with the Strategic Vision of our common goals. It is clear the russian and United States interests intertwine when it comes to the fight against global terrorism. There is a context between the russian and United States president s on the sidelines of the asiapacific summit in vietnam, and a joint statement on syria prove that our countries need each other. They are coordinating their efforts to defeat isis and achieve a stable political settlement in syria. We are united in necessity to address the challenge of nonproliferation of weapons of mass distraction destruction. The fact we have not reduced our efforts to resolve the Iranian Nuclear program and to destroy chemical weapons despite our strong disagreements over the ukrainian crisis speaks volumes. Today developments surrounding the north korean Nuclear Program are quite serious. In this regard, i would like to emphasize that russia, as well as the United States, does not accept the Nuclear State of north korea. We have consistently advocated the denuclearization of the korean peninsula, but this issue can only be settled through a negotiated solution by diplomatic means. It would be inadvisable to test the strength of the north korean leadership and provoke a rash countermeasure. Russia is committed to the joint comprehensive plan of actions on the Iranian Nuclear program as a successful example of cooperation and an essential factor of regional stability. We consider it important for the participants of the plan to remove existing differences from the agenda for negotiations without reconsidering the agreement itself. It is evident should the plan fail, it would be an alarming signal for the whole International Security system, including resolving the Nuclear Problem of the korean peninsula. The issue of strategic stability and arms control was and continues to be one of the key problems in russianamerican relations. Our Bilateral Dialogue on this topic has never been suspended, even given the most intense period of the cold war. Over the past 50 years, joint efforts of both countries resulted in the creation of a legal base for the modern system of International Security. Therefore, the russianamerican cooperation still has a crucial impact on key global processes. It is one of the pillars of the current world order. With that said, we consider the intent of the russian and United States president s to develop a relation in the spirit of balance of interest and search mutually beneficial agreements to be highly important, which was confirmed in a recent telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and donald trump. Positive impulses from the highest political level to a practical dimension our , countries need to restore a broken means of communication. It is hardly possible to agree on anything through remote polemics and minimal contact with one another. Lack of communication leads to a growing mutual distrust especially in the political , circles of the United States which has made an unflattering image of russia. We urge our counterparts are our resuming functional dialogue between our security council, defense agencies, intelligence services, numbers of parliaments. At the same time we should get rid of everything artificial cooperation, our removing multiple irritants in bilateral relations. The most sensible topic is the return of the diplomatic property which was seized from us. It is a paradox as we have not only been deprived of our property, but not even allowed to check the buildings. What possible threats could the ambassadors visit to our compounds cause to the United States security . We still get a negative answer. To enter russian property, russian buildings, nobody cares to specify the reasons. What we heard from the state department is just only you have no permission to enter russian property. It would be important to establish a joint working group on Cyber Security in order to dispel doubts where what was the goal and was intervention really happening, or was this just idle speculation . So far the american sides failed to provide any evidence. We are just being told the United States cannot present the facts because there is a classified information. That way one can come up with any charges so as to avoid speaking to the point. Cultural and humanitarian ties, as well as social context that helped strengthen Mutual Understanding and trust among our citizens are of great importance. This area is less exposed to political environment, and it is definitely expected to bring positivity to bilateral relations. Our common history is one of the topics that brings the two nations together. This year we are celebrating many milestones. Nobody is talking about it, but i would like to mention the 210th anniversary of establishing the russianamerican diplomatic relations. 200th anniversary of the arrival of the russian fleet to hawaii. The 150th anniversary of the agreement to purchase alaska. The 80th anniversary of the legendary flight of the crew from moscow to vancouver, washington state. Our priority is to lay out economic groundwork for the russianamerican relations, which would secure them from irregularities of the political atmosphere. The volumes of bilateral trade and investments do not meet the economic potential of both countries. Even in the better years the trade volume never surpassed the modest sum of 40 billion. In 2016, it was 20 billion. At the same time i would like to emphasize that despite the sanctions, we host about 3000 American Companies with almost 180,000 employees and 75 billion worth of aggregate assets in russia. On a regular basis, the American Companies confirm they have no intention of leaving russia. Extra proof is an unprecedented success of the International Economic forum held in june 2017, during which the United States delegation managed to set an attendance record, 556 representatives from 140 companies. By the way, it is a quarter of all companies registered at the forum. It is highly important to preserve positive aspects of the russianamerican relations during the current complicated political circumstances. It consumes the arctic, science, and space expiration. American astronauts fly our manned soyuz spacecraft. Russianmade rd180 engines are being acquired by the u. S. To deliver payloads into orbit for nasa and, by the way, the pentagon. Furthermore, the rd818 engine is purchased and used in antares, used to deliver cargo to the International Space station. There are plans for joint implementation of largescale projects that could serve as communication for the International Space station. In september 2017, Russian Space agency and nasa signed a statement on cooperation in creating the deep space gateway circumlunar station. One could say in space we cooperate better than on the ground. Russia effectively implements the mega grants program, attracting leading foreign scientists to research and Scientific Study in our country. Over the six years of the work, 160 worldclass laboratories were created with plenty of grant recipients being american scientists have moved back in their days. The ties between russia and america across the Pacific Ocean were always unique. Starting for the russianamerican company and its activities in alaska, to the settlement of russian pioneers in california, from the Second World War, lend lease program, in particular, with nearly 8000 airplanes and ships moved from montana through alaska. To the oil and gas fields. The latter included have forever changed the fate of face of the far east and transformed the russian islands into one of the leading Energy Suppliers of the asiapacific region. California has taken a major place in the relations between our two countries. We have the Chevron Corporation working for a long time in russia along with transnet as an operator of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to deliver oil to the seaports. There are more machinery of the Caterpillar Company supplying large Construction Machinery and equipment to the Russian Far East. Thousands of employees from russia work in the flagship hightech companies in silicon valley. Cisco, microsoft, intel, google to name a few. The russianamerican Pacific Partnership has been active for more than 20 years. It is a unique platform for dialogue which brings together officials and businessmen in the regions of the Russian Far East and the United States west coast. The state of california is among the leaders of the bilateral interregional cooperation. Over the past years, it has established contact with republican of kazakhstan. This is mostly due to the states current leadership, governor mr. Jerry brown, who in september posted the Economic Forum in vladivostok to get acquainted with the economic potential of russia and the far east. The dialogue a bilateral for , initiating political and business circles taking place in United States and now with russia, as well as place an increasing role in developing ties between the regions of russia and the United States. It has proven itself to be an important informal platform for dialogue and development over positive bilateral agenda which are countries desperately need. In conclusion, i would like to remind you that this december marks the 210th anniversary of diplomatic relations between russia and the united dates. Back in 1787, american president Thomas Jefferson wrote to the russian Emperor Alexander i. I am certain that russia is the most friendly nation to us. The russian president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated we are not picking fights with the United States and have always had a positive attitude towards the American People. When we stood together, we always achieve success. That is how it has happened during the american war of independence, the first and the Second World Wars. We honestly want the bilateral political atmosphere normalized. I genuinely hope we will not remain hostages of each others own prejudice. We cannot allow complaints to undermine our ability to effectively respond to the measured security challenges of the 21st century. Thank you very much. [applause] join us for the most interesting part of our conversation. Mr. Holloway thank you very much for those remarks and for laying out a whole agenda of cooperation, of potential cooperation between russia and the United States. Ambassador anatov not only potential. But history of our relations, the current status of our relations and, of course, the potential. Mr. Holloway but we are at a point where relations between our two countries are probably in worst state they have been since the late 1980s, certainly since the end of the cold war. And there is a great deal of mistrust, and you are the new Russian Ambassador in washington. The u. S. Has a new ambassador in moscow, jon huntsman. And when he presented his credentials to president putin, he said i look forward to working to rebuild trust between our two countries, and strengthening the bilateral relationship based on cooperation on common interests. It sounds to me from the remarks you made that would also be a fair description of how you see your mission here in the United States. Ambassador anatov you are right. Of course, it is difficult to start working in the United States nowadays, frankly. As i mentioned to my new friends before our meeting, you said the first news i got when i left my plane was the decision of the United States regarding the seizure of the consulate general of my daughter has sent me a message saying, father, be prepared. There are a lot of journalists who would like to see you and get some remarks from you. Instead of going to my house, i was forced to go to the embassy to start working. What to do under such circumstances . Of course, frankly, it is difficult, but my official remarks, please, it is a lot of positive elements in our history. Even during the cold war, we reached drastic agreements regarding nuclear arsenals. Dont forget about the treaties like imf, start treaty. And you will see these treaties are still alive. And its very important the United States and the Russian Federation consider important to sit together and to tackle this issue. As i mentioned, it is my understanding not remarks i got from moscow it is from my heart. When we are together, we can do a lot. You will see that one diplomat mentioned during my Courtesy Call to him if the United States United States and russia quarrel, we can face the problem of north korea. But when we are together, the whole world can sleep well. Mr. Holloway well, let me follow up on the issue of Nuclear Weapons, which you mentioned. The u. S. And russia are the two great, dominant Nuclear Weapons powers. You were head of the delegation that negotiated new start with the United States. Start treaty with the United States. So my question is you mentioned the treaties are healthy, but there is some commentary now that arms control as we have known it is not in a healthy state. I dont believe we have formal treaty negotiations going on. The imf treaty is under criticism from both sides. Are we at the end of arms control as we have known it, or is this a temporary pause . And if we dont have arms control as we have known it, how do we manage our Nuclear Relationship . Ambassador anatov first of all , i would like to repeat your words. We need more trust. Its impossible to start negotiations tomorrow. It is necessary to make a lot of preparatory work for this. I remember 2009 and 2008, when we started our negotiations with the United States. You had excellent team, professional team, smart team led by your former undersecretary. It was very difficult for her because there was a gap of negotiations between the United States and russia. It was necessary to create Something Special for such negotiations, and for the Russian Federation, it was difficult to do the same. But we managed and we agreed. We spent about you say 15, 17 hours per day together trying to understand what kind of concerns we had at the time. Of course, we can be criticized today by our opponents regarding the provisions of these documents, but at the time it was the best solution in the interest of the american and russian people. You are right. We have bilateral conversations on various issues of arms control, nonproliferation, and sometimes we have some differences. But we are great nations. We have our own interests, National Interests. Its important to respect National Interest of each other. If we can see such from our partners, under any circumstances we can find a solution. It seems to me that its important to continue such strategic dialogue. Strategic means disarmament, nonproliferation, armscontrol altogether in one bottle. It is important to continue such dialogue, even taking into account the Current Situation with russianamerican relations. We have started such dialogue and there are two delegations from the russian side led by our deputy minister, and from the United States led by mr. Shannon. A smart, experienced professional diplomat. I met him and discussed some issues. Strategic stability. Mr. Holloway when you think about a strategy for improving russian relations with the u. S. , mr. Holloway when you think of cooperation weve had in the i take that point, and also potential areas in the future. Which, to you, look to be the most promising in terms of moving the relationship forward . Amb. Anatov maybe you will be surprised, but as professor said, i served six years at the minister of defense. It was difficult, frankly, for the diplomat to be in the minister of defense. But i got a lot of knowledge, experience. I would like to say the to say, despite the differences between the military commands, it seems to me we are close to making a breakthrough on the cooperation between the pentagon and the ministry of defense. We have common goals. We have to get a victory over isis. We are very close. We are together in syria. We are fighting against global terrorism. It seems to me the Great Potential capabilities we have. Its very important not to think about just only National Interests, but necessary to look at this problem from a global point of view to understand what we get if we can achieve victory over this devil. I understand maybe youre not satisfied with my answer, but im sure that a Great Potential for our cooperation in the military sphere. I dont want to repeat what we already have. It is the base for a future cooperation. The next issue i can say i can mention. For example, it is north korea. We are members of security council, and we are very much concerned with what is going on in north korea. As i mentioned, we never recognized north korea as a Nuclear Weapon state. We are together with the United States. There is a difference how to achieve this goal. We are in favor of diplomatic means and tools. We are a little concern the United Stateshat that, how to say in a diplomatic way . Sometimes uses very sensitive rhetoric regarding the possible or potential actions in that region. We are very much concerned. You say north korea is our neighbor, and i have repeatedly said to my colleagues it is easy to change a wife but difficult to change a neighbor. [laughter] amb. Anatov we are neighbors with the north korea. We are very much concerned. We have very short boundaries. We have such a boundary. We have calm down our emotions. We dont recognize and we dont support. For interrupting peace and progress. At the same time, we are Nuclear Weapons states. Be we are permanent members of the security council. We have to be very cautious regarding our potential actions in that region. Mr. Holloway you say diplomacy is the way to go. I think, in spite of the rhetoric you referred to so diplomatically, that also is the official position of the United States. Diplomacy is the way to resolve the issue. The question is how . Amb. Anatov you say if im a magician, you say that for this issue. I dont know. There is only one option. Only one outcome. So engage them in negotiations. Discussions how to freeze activities and, at the same, time they would like the United States, south korea, japan to freeze joint exercises. Not to provoke north korea for the next missile test and nuclear tests. You say that to calm down emotions, sit together and talk. The Russian Federation will help and we are ready to be together with the United States, with other permanent members of the security council. Mr. Holloway all right. Im now getting questions from the audience. I think we can perhaps amb. Anatov maybe you will choose the tough one. Mr. Holloway im looking for the toughest one. I have given you a couple easy questions to make you feel relaxed. [laughter] in the spirit of cooperation. It goes without saying. You make some remarks. I have heard you are a tough negotiator. That is a compliment. She will never say i am tough negotiator. She could say i am smart. [laughter] amb. Anatov you say we respect each other. If there is opportunity for me, i would like to convey her best regards. It is difficult for her to be in brussels now, to deal with those russians. [laughter] mr. Holloway i think perhaps i was paraphrasing. I meant in the sense of smart. You know what your position is. You negotiate hard, but you did reach an agreement. What im interested in asking you is, you have referred to a number of things in United States. In your view, all the stuff made about russian interference in our election in 2016. I would like to come back to that question later. I wanted to ask you a broader question. What, looking back, could russia have done differently to avoid getting into this position . Amb. Anatov i know, i know. I would like to remember some ideas i heard in moscow in various corners in our government, as well as our ministry of foreign affairs, as well is the ministry of defense. I explain but i need to say this. We were very much flexible towards western countries. We consider it is very easy to come to a compromise with United States and other western countries. We try to show flexibility, too much flexibility. I explain to you. I participated in various rounds of negotiations at g8. You remember, there was such a forum. When russia was a member of the g8. I was responsible for arms control and nonproliferation. I remember, when i agreed with western countries, i was the good guy, smart guy, professional guy. When i started to say lets come to another decision, you said it does not meet my concerns. I need some other phrases in the final document. I became tough negotiator. Mr. Holloway thats a compliment. [laughter] amb. Anatov the same situation if i hope many of you know about the situation with arms control in europe. Conventional forces in europe, and so on. I dont want to torture you with such formulas. You said from one side there were western countries and from another side with the Russian Federation. When we are together, everything was fine. When i said, come on, you said that i dont understand nato. I dont understand decisions made in brussels. You consider, i mean the my colleagues from europe and the United States, you consider that the threat is coming from south of europe, from iran. Yes, i understand it is possible you have such concerns. And even you consider it is the threat. But why nato is coming to my boundary . You have to go to the south. What is the problem with my country . You say, i suddenly discovered from intelligence sources, the ministry of defense it is a lot of intelligence. Planes are flying along the boundary between nato countries and russia. For what purpose . I will explain we are trying to protect our countries from terrorism. Please. What kind of terrorism . What are you talking about . I dont understand you. Thats why i would like just only to give you one example. It was my concern. I failed to get concrete answer on this issue. It seems to me, if during maybe at the beginning of the century we were more tough, more understandable for western countries, maybe we would not face the current status of our relations. By the way, it was said by my president , mr. Putin. Mr. Holloway thank you very much. Let me now turn to the question of the election, which is, well, must dominate the headlines. Which is the source of a great deal of distrust, because the sense partly because the election was so close. Partly because of the evidence of the statements made by our intelligence agencies that there was an influence campaign that the u. S. Sorry the russian , federation engaged in different kinds of trolling, different kinds of advertising and someone, and so on hacking and releasing documents to wikileaks. That playing itself out, or at least going through a whole procedure, a process of dealing with that in one way or another. What is your response . Your president has denied you engaged in those. Amb. Anatov you would like for me that i agree . I will go to moscow. [laughter] mr. Holloway im not asking you to challenge that, but im asking you how you think then that she mentioned this at the beginning how it affects the relationship. How is this going to play out . Amb. Anatov the situation is really delicate and complicated. Sometimes i raise a question to myself. Where the American People have more problems with the russian interference in the election . I just explained to some colleagues in this room, saying a few weeks ago i visited chicago. I entered hotel, switched on the tv. I saw cnn showing or trying to prove that russia interfered into the United States elections. I changed my suit. Then i visited a restaurant where we had excellent dinner with my friends. Returned back to my hotel room and what do i see . The same. The same. Three hours. Just only about what . There are gossips, intelligence reports regarding russian interference into american relations. You say we raised this issue with our counterparts many times. The question from them. If they have opportunity to put proofs on the table, at least one or two proofs, it was mentioned we hijacked or we interfered into a Democratic Party website and so on and so on. But specialists in Cyber Security know it is easy to interfere in your computer. For example, from singapore. But it is possible to keep fingerprints in russia. There is a real problem, Cyber Security. We have offered our american friends to sit together and look at this problem. To find out what kind of problems, what kind of security challenges we face today. And to discuss how do we cooperate together. I do think that we were in favor one way or another in the United States. I see you are smiling. I understand what it means. You say it is up to you to decide. Please raise the question to yourself. What kind of system you have it have if anybody can penetrate it . [laughter] amb. Anatov that was said by all of your president s, the United States is superpower. Nobody can defeat it. Please, what has happened with your security . [crowd noise] end, thatay in the is not, to many americans, a convincing response to say we do every thing perfectly because we are a superpower. I just recall the raising glasses of champagne in the duma when the Election Results came out. They are elected members. Amb. Anatov that was you also, raising glasses of champagne. Mr. Holloway let me put it in a broader context. This is your denials have not stopped the process going on. It is going to play itself out. In what way, i dont know. There is a general problem, and this perhaps should be a topic for mutual discussion. What impact do social media have on what we see as fundamentals of democracy . Namely the possibility of open discussion. The possibility of transparency and access to facts when we discuss the policies we want our governments to pursue or when we are electing people to parliaments or congress. I think the big issue, whether what is important here is the particular scandal or the more general issue of what is changing. Im wondering if that is the kind of area in which it would be fruitful to have cooperation, not only in relation to social media but also Artificial Intelligence for example. Amb. Anatov it seems to me it is high time for our intelligence and Counterintelligence Services to sit together in closed room, to discuss this issue, to find solutions, to get answers on this issue. And to stop speculation regarding the meddling of russia. Maybe it is not russia. Maybe it is another country. I see a lot of cameras and that is why dont want to name other countries. Of particular interest to United States, because they raise speculation. Why the Russian Federation . Is it just only because of the problem between democrats and republicans . I do not want it to interfere in your internal relations. I would just like to answer your question. My proposal to you, you meaning the United States, to restore sensitive links of communications between our counterintelligence and security workingto start together. I will repeatedly say we are not enemies. We are partners. We were allies in the Second World War and we are fighting global terrorism. It is high time for us to have constructive discussions about open and transparent discussions about security challenges that we face. If we have concerns, we have openly discussed them by fitting together, but not through mass media. It is very easy to speak through mass media. Just only to send one signal, to say, come on, you see i have one paper here. Very sensitive information, but i cannot disclose you, because, if i do not want to betray my friend who has provided me this information, but i would like to see you privately. The United States i dont want to continue this sentence. I will smile you. That is all. Now the mass media will take this information and it will be speculation among journalists. It will be good fake news. Our time is running out, unfortunately. There are so many issues to discuss. I have two questions i want to raise with you. One is ukraine. This is a major issue in our relations, the u. S. And indeed the European Union have taken a strong stance on annexation of crimea. We have the continuing, lowlevel conflict in the eastern part of ukraine. These are sanctions were imposed in response to russian policy. This is a major obstacle to the improvement of relations. How do you think the issue can be resolved . Amb. Anatov you have raise so many questions. It seems to me we need two hours more. First of all, i would like to disagree regarding the annexation of crimea. I do not want to waste your time to explain you the russian position on the issue. There was a vote organized by the people of crimea, and they decided to join us. By the way, do you know i am under the sanctions of the European Union, and i would like revalue top secrets from the European Union, for what purpose i am on the top list . We have got secret information from europe that i run Russian Troops and had taken one of the towns of ukraine. Personally. And diplomatic way. And because of my failure, you say that we didnt capture or sees that town. You can check it. Due to the action, i have to be put on the stop list. Come on. You say that i am diplomat, and Everybody Knows what i have done. I was responsible for International Relations and military relations between ministry of defense and other ministries of other countries. It is stupid. I do not know what kind of fake information from whom that they took this. Frankly, you say we are very much concerned. A lot of my offices had various relatives and they entered my office saying, mr. Deputy minister, what is going on, we dont understand. You say that they i mean, ukrainian counterparts said we are attacking our relatives houses, so they think that we could kill our mothers and fathers. Now the situation is a different one. We you say we have agreement. Please dont forget russia is not a part of the conflict. Everything is mentioned in the agreement. There is a sequence in this, elements, what should be done first . Theiry withdrawal or ceasefire. Be the withdrawal of heavy armament ammunitions, and other elements. There is a problem now of how to fulfill it. There was a request from western countries to protect peacekeepers, monitors, lets call them. Monitors from overseas. Mr. Putin has decided to help and has decided to agree with an idea to protect these on both sides. That is all. You say these other ideas, to create a peacekeeping operation in this region. We do not want russian people to be killed. Like it happened in odessa, other towns. We would like guarantees, from western countries and the United States, that russian people who are leaving their will not be killed. Willo are leaving there not be killed. That is why, all elements to protect lives of citizens, ordinary people are stipulated in the agreement. We, unfortunately, have run out of our own time here. I want to ask everyone to join antn thanking ambassador onov for addressing so many issues. [applause] amb. Anatov i would like to say thank you very much. I understand maybe youre not satisfied with all of the answers for your questions, but i would like to confirm im ready to continue our dialogue, our conversation. You say that if you like me, maybe we will choose one specific topic. You will say one of them, for example, tomorrow i will make a presentation. Nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation, these are very important and it seems to me they are crucial for the United States and the russia federation. By the way, the United States and Russian Federation are bound by many agreements in nuclear and conventional and nuclear forces, but not all Nuclear Powers have the same limitation that the United States and russia have. We have a lot of questions to discuss. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your attention. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [inaudible conversations] coming up next, a conversation with anthony cordesman. Later, a White House Briefing with sarah sanders. With take you there live when she begins. Cspan, a look at readiness, military, officials, Defense Sector executive, requiredbout what is for possible future conflicts around the world. Here is a preview. We can defend ourselves against nuclear north korea. We will keep fighting terrorism. We have got europe and asia, as saying, but we will continue. In the middleback east. I would love for the region to return but that is just not going to happen. We are talking really about risk or resources. When we talk about resources, everyone goes to the issue of ok, how are we going to fix it. How do we think about fighting these differently . Inconceivably entire event tonight starting at 8 00 eastern on cspan. Explore america. Washington journal continues. Host we return now to the topic policy with anthony cordesman, serves as chair in cenfogy at