Putin says Russia does not lose desire to improve ties with US

Russia has not lost the desire to improve its relations with the US, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview.

“Everything can be done if there is a desire. We have never lost this desire,” Putin told Pavel Zarubin, a journalist from Russia’s state TV and radio company VGTRK, on Sunday, while answering a question about the prospects for improving Russia-US relations, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Russian President was responding to a question about the possibility of normalizing relations between Russia and the United States, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.

Putin said Russia is ready to build relations with other countries, provided that such efforts do not compromise Russian interests.

“If we establish relations with someone, we will do so only based on the interests of the Russian state,” he said.

Putin referenced the 19th and 20th centuries to highlight changes in international relations, recalling that after the Crimean War of 1853-1856, when a series of restrictions were imposed on Russia, then-Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire, Alexander Gorchakov, sent out a letter with the words: “Russia is not angry. Russia is concentrating.”

“Gradually, as Russia was concentrating, it returned all its rights in the Black Sea as well, grew stronger and so on,” said Putin.

Last week, Russia issued an advisory for its citizens warning them not to travel to the US and other Western countries, claiming they could be “hunted” by authorities in those states, Al Jazeera reported.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was cited by the outlet as describing US-Russia relations as “on the verge of rupture.”