Moscow comments on prospects for post-election relations with Washington
The main political parties in the US share a Russophobic policy in which Ukraine is viewed as a key element of a hybrid war against Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Moscow’s top diplomat was answering a question about the potential impact of the US presidential election on relations with Russia, at the Inventing the Future symposium in Moscow.
“The anti-Russian and Russophobic orientation of US policy is based on internal political consensus which has a bipartisan nature,” Lavrov stated, adding that “Ukraine is seen as a key element of the hybrid war unleashed against Russia.”
According to the foreign minister, US Republicans and Democrats have already reached a consensus on countering Russia, so it makes no difference to Moscow whether the next president is Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.
He said Moscow cannot trust in statements made by either party during the campaign. “There is no need to take seriously what either candidate says in the heat of election rhetoric,” he stressed.
Lavrov’s comments come at a historic low-point in Russia-US relations, with officials in both countries expressing pessimism on any swift improvement.
Washington, meanwhile, has continued to impose restrictions on Russia in recent months. Over the past ten years, Russia has faced more than 21,000 sanctions across various sectors, according to official estimates, ranging from economics and trade to culture and sports. Russian financial institutions were largely cut off from the Western system in 2022 in response to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
