MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Restoration of the dialogue between the Russian and US legislative bodies is necessary to prevent further deterioration of relations between the two counties, Sergey Rogov, Academic Director of the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies, said on Thursday at a meeting of the Scientific Expert Council under the Chairperson of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament).
"It is very important to make efforts to restore parliamentary ties with the Americans," the expert said.
Rogov noted that there was no situation even during the Cold War era when there have been no official contacts between the two countries’ legislative bodies for five years. "During the worst Cold War years delegations of the USSR Supreme Soviet [parliament] travelled to the United States, while the Americans often came [to the Soviet Union]," he said.
According to Rogov, in these circumstances Russia should try to establish the dialogue between the two countries’ lawmakers under the umbrella of some think tank. "Considering the fact that in the current political situation extremely harsh anti-Russian sentiment prevails in US Congress, one can hardly expect a major breakthrough. However, I would suggest that we try to organize this dialogue under the aegis of some institute, not necessarily the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies," he said.
"It’s going to be very difficult, there will be failures, but if we do not do that, there will be no initiative on the part of the Americans. On the contrary, the Congress will play an increasingly negative role in relations between our two countries," the expert added.