Maria Zakharova on US-Russian relations and Nagorno-Karabakh

Many experts compare the current stage of Russian-American relations with the Cold War. Others oppose them, saying that the system was one of the most stable in the world's history, but there is a lack of stability now. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, answering a question from a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, said the current state of bilateral relations between Russia and the United States was the choice of Washington, while Moscow supports the development of cooperation on the principles of partnership.

"As for the global assessment of Russian-American relations, I can say once again what we have repeatedly said, that they are not experiencing their best moment. It is a fact. We aren't dealing with embellishment of our relations and we aren't trying to create the appearance that everything is as usual,'' she said.

"Certainly, our priority remains the full restoration of relations aimed at the realization of interests at the level of the two countries in all spheres: economic, humanitarian, educational, tourism, in order for all categories of citizens to feel the benefits of the development of bilateral relations,'' the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

She stressed that the transition of Russian-US relations to the current state is not Russia's choice. "As we understand, this is a deliberate choice of the US in the face of the current head of state. It has no relation to what the Americans really believe or think about Russia. It is definitely an information campaign aimed at forming public opinion. But it seems to me that the Americans think that bilateral relations should be developed in order to work for the people's benefit, instead of proving to somebody who is stronger and who is the best,'' Maria Zakharova said.

According to her, our efforts should be aimed at people on this and the other side of the border. "So I repeat once again that it was not our choice. Unfortunately, it was the choice of the United States. We cannot accept the fact that it all started because of disagreements over the Ukrainian conflict. It started earlier. One of the most important and serious evidence was the cancellation of the visit of the US President to Russia, which happened long before the events in Ukraine and Crimea. Therefore we believe that the current level doesn't correspond to the interests of the two peoples,'' the official Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed.

In addition, the diplomat commented on the cooperation between Russia and the United States in the South Caucasus. "You know, we are participants in cooperative multilateral mechanisms, particularly regarding Nagorno-Karabakh. We work together. I cannot say that we have substantially identical or similar approaches on all issues, but at the same time we are looking for solutions with the help of diplomacy, as it exists so that parties have an opportunity to come to an agreement when they have different approaches," Maria Zakharova said.