Lavrov comments on prospects for US-Russia relations after election
The US will continue to see Russia as “an adversary” or worse no matter who wins the November 5 presidential election, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. With less than three weeks to go before the voting, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are running neck-and-neck in the polls.
“Regardless of the outcome of the elections, for the US, we [Russia] will remain, if not an enemy, then definitely an adversary. In any case, a competitor,” Lavrov told the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty in an interview, parts of which were published on Saturday. The full version is expected to be posted on Monday.
Earlier this month, speaking on the matter with Newsweek, the diplomat said that the results of the upcoming vote “make no difference” to Moscow since the Democrats and Republicans “have reached a consensus on countering Russia.”
“In case there are political changes in the US and new proposals to us, we will be ready to consider them and decide whether they meet our interests,” he told the American weekly.
“On the whole, it would be natural for the White House resident, no matter who they are, to mind their domestic business, rather than looking for adventures tens of thousands of miles away from American shores. I am confident that US electors think the same.”
The relations between the two powers had been deteriorating for years but took a nosedive after active hostilities between Moscow and Kiev broke out in February 2022. The US and its allies have backed Ukraine, providing it with tens of billions of dollars in military aid and hitting Russia with a barrage of sanctions.
According to Moscow, Washington has “become a de facto party to the conflict.”
Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the two states’ relations had reached “a cracking-up point” during Joe Biden’s presidency as the US is demonstrating an openly hostile position towards Russia.
“Bilateral relations are now at probably their historical low point, with no prospects for entering a growth trajectory to be seen,” he said.
Commenting on the upcoming US elections at the time, Peskov said “the Democrats are more predictable” in terms of the continuation of US policies towards Russia as well as their pressure on EU countries and their “further political and economic enslavement.”
