We saw the collapse of the groundwork of Russian-US cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the SPIEF-2017 panel session Russia-US Business Dialogue.
"Over the several past years we saw the collapse of the groundwork of bilateral cooperation that had taken decades to build. Our bilateral relations are now at a record-low since the Cold War," President Putin stressed. In his opinion "that could not but affect the economy and our business partnership."
Putin called on American businessmen to help establish constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States. "Help us to restore normal political dialogue, I ask you on behalf of Russia and I appeal to the American side - help the newly elected president, the head of the administration of the United States," TASS cited Putin as saying.
"I’m convinced that normalization of bilateral relations meets the interests of both countries and we will continue the dialogue with US President Donald Trump and the new administration. But to achieve success serious efforts of both sides are needed," Putin said.
The Russian leader said the sides will need political will and should be ready to solve issues of mutual interest. He expressed hope that the business dialogue in the framework of the forum, initiatives and certain ideas of representatives of Russian and US businesses will help to form a favorable environment for solving this uneasy task.
Putin has expressed confidence that only strong trade and investment ties between Russia and the United States may serve as a "safety net" from political volatility.
"Only strong trade and investment ties may ensure a reliable safety net from political volatility. The United States has always remained our significant trade partner," the Russian leader said.
The Russian authorities will strive to make business in Russia profitable for everyone, including partners from the United States, the president added.
"We will do our best to make business in Russia profitable for American partners," the president said, adding that the fact that the business communities of the two countries continue to maintain close contact is positive.
"We plan to facilitate bilateral business projects stipulating equal partnership and cooperation as we are interested in the transfer of technologies and would like to cooperate with foreign companies in order to develop Russian industries and infrastructure," Putin concluded.
