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Russian lawmaker notes French president can help improve Russian-US relations

According to Alexey Pushkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin "has always been and will remain a friend of Europe, but a friend that defends Russia’s interests"
French President Francois Hollande TASS/Mikhail Metzel
French President Francois Hollande
© TASS/Mikhail Metzel

PARIS, October 2. /TASS/. Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee chairman Alexey Pushkov told Europa-1 radio station on Friday that French President Fracois Hollande can play an important role in improving the relations between Russia and the United States.

"Relations between the leaders of the United States and Russia were ice-cold before the session of UN General Assembly. Now, a certain thaw in relations occurred - both at the political and personal levels. So, the situation in this sphere has improved. Syrian and Ukrainian crises have negatively affected the relations between the two countries, and the United States and Russia found themselves on the positions of adversaries," Pushkov said.

He stressed that "French President Francois Holland can play an important role in improving the relations between Russia and the United States." "Europe’s significance in Russian-American relations is rather big. It is necessary that Europe points to the United States to the importance of actions directed at ensuring a thaw in the sphere of relations with Russia," he added.

"There is no threat for Europe from Russia. The Ukrainian crisis is the issue of relations exclusively between Russia and Ukraine, it does not concern Europe. [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has always been and will remain a friend of Europe, but a friend that defends Russia’s interests, which is absolutely logical," Pushkov concluded.