Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday that the United States has not yet formulated its proposals on the format and composition of the American-Russian Business Council, RIA Novosti reports.
“Unfortunately, the composition of the business council has not been coordinated yet as the sides continue to discuss different options,” Ryabkov said.
“U.S. colleagues have not yet shown their readiness to formulate their approach to the composition, format and level of representation in this council,” he added. “We are encouraging them to do this through different means, including through the Russian Foreign Ministry which is actively working on it,” he noted.
In Russia, “a lot of attention is devoted to this issue at the level of leadership,” Ryabkov said.
“We think that such dialogue and this council are necessary. Without them, it is much harder for businesses on both sides to navigate the situation, especially considering multiple U.S. restrictive measures aimed at several key sectors of our economy,” he added.
“If the U.S. side finally specifies their position, we will welcome this. There are opportunities for meetings at multilateral platforms, at forums held in Russia in different formats, including under the government auspices. So if there is political will and readiness to organize the first session rather quickly, we would want this to happen,” he concluded.
