MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Washington may become a better partner for Moscow if the Americans manage to overcome their domestic disagreements, said Sergey Kislyak, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee for Foreign Affairs and former Russian Ambassador to the US, in a conversation with TASS on the sidelines of the Development of Parliamentarianism international forum on Tuesday.
"The de-escalation of tensions between our states should serve both our and their interests, but the American side should overcome the period of domestic disagreements: confrontation between the Democrats and the Republicans and between the mass media and the White House. Their domestic disagreements blur the vision when it comes to the importance of solving long-term security problems, including relations with Russia," Kislyak said, responding to the question about the prospects and expediency of a meeting between the Russian and US leaders in the current conditions." I think that after a [midterm] election [to the Congress] takes place in the US and all the endless recriminations stop, the US’ chances to become a better dialogue and substantive partner for us will grow. It won’t happen tomorrow, but it is necessary to work on it, so, to my mind, any meetings between the presidents are extremely important."
He noted that a face-to-face meeting of the two state leaders is also important in terms of a need for joint activities on the global arena, including challenges like international terrorism. "Meetings of state leaders are always important, as they allow to speak to the point, not through news conferences or interviews, but personally. It often led to a better understanding between leaders," Kislyak stressed. "Objectively, there are a great number of issues that require joint Russian-American work, for example, terrorism is a very important issue which has to be jointly addressed."