MOSCOW
Conditions for a summit between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump have not been met, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday.
"Any summit meeting requires in-depth preparation and careful consideration of all aspects. As of today, neither the first nor the second condition for organizing this meeting has been met," Ryabkov said at a meeting in the lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, in Moscow.
The diplomat noted that while the Russian and American foreign ministries are engaged in preparatory work, the immediate priority is to add specifics to the framework agreed upon by the leaders in mid-August.
Despite the lack of high-level contacts, Ryabkov confirmed that the sides are in constant communication, with security issues occupying a central place on the agenda.
Trump and Putin last met in Alaska on Aug. 15, and later decided to hold talks in Budapest. The summit, however, could not go ahead.
Earlier, the Kremlin said the meeting required a “great deal of homework,” and that they could not just “meet for the sake of meeting.”
Ryabkov cited the closure of Russian diplomatic missions in 2017 and 2018 as a key irritant in the diplomatic relations, demanding the return of seized property.
"The property must be returned. This is an irrevocable requirement. Even if they didn't disgrace themselves, they took away state property protected by diplomatic immunity, and they don't want to return it," he said.
On the issue of direct flights between Russia and the US, Ryabkov said it is on the agenda, and Russia is in favor of resuming them but no progress has been achieved so far.
Asked what caused current tensions with the West, Ryabkov said it was "expansion to the east and complete disregard for Moscow's interests, primarily in the field of security."
"We have repeatedly called on our Western neighbors, but also not only neighbors, but those who belong to the collective West, to resolve the contradictions that they have created in the field of security, primarily European security," Ryabkov stressed.
Regarding Venezuela, Ryabkov expressed solidarity with the Latin American country, saying US actions create "an environment of heightened tension, and no one but Washington itself can be blamed for this."
According to him, the Venezuelan side is doing everything possible to ensure that there is no drug trafficking in the region.
"In this case, we refer to the relevant reports of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. And the State Department at earlier stages recognized the fact that the so-called drug cartels in question do not exist, by and large, in relation to Venezuela," Ryabkov said.
About a potential Venezuelan request for military assistance, Ryabkov said Moscow and Caracas are in "close contact," keeping "all communication channels open."
The US military has been building up a force of warships, fighter jets, drones and spy planes in the Caribbean Sea, but Trump has played down the possibility of a war with Venezuela. He, however, has suggested that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's days are numbered.