Russia always open for cooperation with the US, but on equal terms

The United States realises which negative impact on relations with the Russian Federation has the Magnitsky Act and the situation with adopted Russian children, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday after a meeting with his Finnish colleague Erkki Tuomioja. “As for the state of bilateral relations, we have heard from Thomas Donilon and US Secretary of State John Kerry, that they understand the negative effects to the bilateral relationship of a number of factors, including the Magnitsky list, the condition of adopted Russian children,” said Lavrov. “Russia is always open for cooperation with the United States, but cooperation must be equal, meet mutual interests and be based on the non-interference into internal affairs,” the Russian minister said. “We’ll be ready to discuss any issues with the most consistent observance of civilised norms of international law. Of course, Moscow realises the importance of Russian-American interaction, which has an impact on strategic stability and international relations as a whole,” he stressed. “Our priority is to resolve the issues, which have raised in our relations recently, because this is the attitude towards our citizens. As they treat our citizens we’ll also look at the attitude towards our country as a whole,” Lavrov pointed out.