US policy of engaging Russia from ‘position of strength’ doomed to failure – Lavrov

Moscow: Any US attempts to talk to Russia from a “position of strength” are doomed to failure, and any aggressive move will be met with a harsh response, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Indonesian Rakyat Merdeka newspaper.
“Attempts to talk with us from a position of strength are doomed to failure from the beginning. We will respond harshly and decisively to unfriendly actions. One should interact honestly if Washington really wants stable and predictable, as they put it, relations,” Lavrov said, when asked about the future of Russia-US relations after the Geneva summit.
The interview with the top Russian diplomat was published ahead of his visit to Jakarta, set for July 6. Lavrov is expected to meet with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, to discuss trade and investment ties, as well as cooperation on pressing global and regional issues.
At the June 16 summit, presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden agreed to launch strategic stability consultations to reduce the risk of conflict between the world’s two dominant nuclear powers. They also adopted a joint statement reaffirming commitment to the 1985 formula by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.