Russia’s Putin Still Looks Forward To Having Harmonious Relations With The US
Despite political nuisances, Russia still looks forward to having a harmonious working relationship with the United States, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday. He hinted the desire is even for the long term, to "work with any American head of state the American people elect," not just with a single individual.
In an interview on state-run Rossiya 1 TV, Mr Putin admitted his country doesn’t see eye to eye often with the U.S. mainly because they disagree on several issues on the international agenda. But it doesn’t mean the two countries cannot co-exist.
Although the principles of the present leaders of the U.S. and Russia differ, collectively as nations, the two countries share common interests, Mr Putin said. These include non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, fighting organized crime and terrorism, tackling poverty and other pressing issues. On these, “we have a common agenda,” the Kremlin leader said.
He said there exists a general and common “effort” between the two countries to “make the world economy more democratic, measured and balanced, so that the world order is more democratic.” For that, Mr Putin said Russia will continue to cooperate and work with “any” American head of state. “Our cooperation is not with a particular person but with a nation, a big and powerful international player.”
Relations between the U.S. and Russia aren’t at their best, marred by the Ukraine crisis which the U.S. accused Russia instigated, spurred by its world domination ambitions. The U.S. believes Russia has made matters worse in Kiev when it supported pro-Russian rebels with troops and weapons. Russia, as expected, denied any participation in the civil conflict hurting Ukraine since March 2014.
Mr Putin’s remarks on Rossiya 1 TV come after he blasted the U.S. of wanting to dominate world affairs. On Thursday, he said in his annual TV phone-in show that Washington wanted "not allies, but vassals" that’s why it’s creating chaos and confusion, at the expense of Russia, in Europe.
But Moscow Times believes whatever relations Moscow had with the West before, assuming they were good and positive, will never be “restored” anymore. “Regardless of whether sanctions are lifted, the basis for cooperation that was rooted in the balance of powers of the 1990s has been lost. And Russia has no analogous relations left with other partners. Its only choice now is to look for such opportunities elsewhere, with no guarantee it will find them,” Moscow Times states.
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