No more geopolitical risks in Russia-U.S. relations now than before - deputy FM

MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) - There are no more geopolitical risks in Russian-U.S. relations now than there were before, the risks have reached a plateau, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.

"A pause occurred after Minister Sergei Lavrov had a contact with State Secretary Marco Rubio in New York on September 25. Messages are being exchanged on the working level, yet we view as contacts the meetings held by delegations on the coordinated agenda. There are no such contacts now, which we view as a sign that the issues at hand are quite difficult and require certain homework," Ryabkov told the press in Moscow.

"I would like to ask market actors not to use my words as a confirmation of deepening of geopolitical risks. There are no more geopolitical risks now than before, they have reached a plateau. Thus, market actors should go back to the exchange and do what they did when Moscow Exchange indices were growing," he said.

The United States has not asked for agrement to appoint the new ambassador to Russia, Sergei Ryabkov also said.

"No, it has not asked. We have no idea about this, but it's their matter. We can see how slow any approval in the Senate of the U.S. Congress is," Ryabkov told the press.

Director of the U.S. Department of State's Office for Russia Peter Andreoli had contacts with the Russian side during his trip to Russia, and not just functioning of the embassies were discussed, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said.

"The contact was actually made although he was traveling on internal business. Not just functioning of the embassies was discussed during that contact," Ryabkov told the press.