Lavrov: US-Russia Ties Worse than during Cold War

By Staff, Agencies 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that bilateral relations between Russia and the United States are now even worse than during the Cold War due to a lack of mutual respect.

“During the Cold War, the tensions were flying high, and risky crisis situations often emerged, but there was also a mutual respect,” Lavrov said in a Russian state television interview on Wednesday. “It seems to me there is a deficit of it now.”

The top Russian diplomat expressed Moscow’s readiness to normalize ties with Washington but said the US had to stop posturing like a “sovereign” while rallying its allies against Russia and China.

Lavrov also warned that the two sides “would live in conditions of a cold war or worse” if the US administration avoided mutually respectful dialog on the basis of a balance of interests.

Elsewhere in the interview, Lavrov said Moscow had a “positive” attitude toward US President Joe Biden’s proposal to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but added that Russia needed to analyze all aspects of the initiative.

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign minister said on Wednesday that he would be ready to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken if his American counterpart joined a meeting of top diplomats of the Arctic nations in Iceland scheduled for next month.

Earlier on Wednesday, Lavrov said Russia would soon publish a list of governments deemed “unfriendly” to the Russian state, following a decree by Putin to clearly identify and take countermeasures against such countries.