Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that the Russian side insists on building pragmatic relations with Washington that would meet the interests of the citizens of both states. It is reported by RIA Novosti.

Antonov claims that Moscow does not want any confrontation between the US and Russia.

“We are in favor of building pragmatic ones,” the diplomat said.

He added that during his visit to the US State Department, he met with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried. Antonov claims that the meeting was constructive, while the question of the possible "consequences" of the air incident for Moscow was not raised at it.

Earlier, Antonov was summoned to the State Department after the crash of an American drone over the Black Sea. According to the US Armed Forces, Russian Su-27s intercepted an MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance drone in the sky over the water area, and one of them hit it with its wing, damaging the propeller. As a result, he was "forced to drown" by the Americans themselves. The Russian Defense Ministry denies the use of weapons and physical contact with the US aircraft.