Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said serious efforts are required to overcome “the severe damage done to US-Russia relations under Barack Obama”.
Lavrov added that the need for dialogue, voiced by US President Donald Trump, gives hope for improving ties, RT reported.
“Of course, we kept close tabs on what Donald Tramp said about Russia on the campaign trail and after the elections. The stated stance of the need to build a good dialogue between the two countries gives some hope for positive developments in our bilateral relations,” Lavrov said in an interview with Austrian weekly news magazine Profil.
“As President Putin repeatedly stressed, we are ready to go our part of the way for the recovery of our relations with the United States. Their degradation in recent years is not our fault but a result of purposeful actions of the previous administration in Washington. For our part, we have always stayed open to development of predictable cooperation, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests.”
Lavrov said improving bilateral ties could prove to be a real challenge.
“We realize that serious efforts from both sides are required to overcome the severe damage done to our relations under Barack Obama,” he said.
“It’s probably still too early to talk about how work on specific issues will go with the [new] Republican team. It is necessary to wait until the key officials of the new administration feel comfortable in their seats and clarify their foreign policy priorities. After that, it will be possible to draw conclusions for the future.”
In their first phone conversation that lasted nearly an hour late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and new US President Donald Trump outlined their intent to cooperate on issues ranging from defeating the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group to mending bilateral economic ties.
Lavrov said Moscow and Washington can jointly attempt to resolve some of the world’s most pressing issues.
