MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev characterized US President Donald Trump as a well-wishing and decent politician who wants to establish normal relations.
"To speak about the outward impression, he is a well-wishing political figure who wants to establish full-fledged contacts and perceives absolutely everything adequately," the premier said in a live interview with Russian TV channels. Speaking about the talk with the US leader at the ASEAN summit in Manila on November 12, Medvedev said that Trump recalled cooperation between Moscow and Washington during World War Two and "said that this is important both for Russia and America."
"In this sense, the contact is quite normal and confident. Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke about this, saying that everything was normal in his personal relationships [with Trump]," the premier added.
As the Russian premier pointed out, "the problem does not stem from personal relations and this is important but this is a subordinate story relative to those decisions that are made, to the atmosphere that is being created and this atmosphere in US-Russia relations is very bad and ugly."
"But this atmosphere in the relations between the United States and Russia is very bad and I would say ugly. It has been the worst over the entire period, which I remember, and I still remember meetings between [Soviet leader] Leonid Brezhnev and various US presidents. And this is, of course, very bad," Medvedev said.
As the Russian premier pointed out, "the problem does not stem from personal relations and this is important but this is a subordinate story relative to those decisions that are made, to the atmosphere that is being created and this atmosphere in US-Russia relations is very bad and disgusting," the Russian premier said.
"Representatives from major American businesses are coming to me that there we’ve got a committee for foreign investments, and 10 out of 12 people are from America. These are all senior officials from corporations worth hundreds of billions of dollars," Medvedev said, adding that business representatives are voicing their intentions to work on the Russian market. "Speaking about the human factor, I am confident that it greatly differs from the policy currently conducted by the Washington establishment and that, by the way, is damaging President Trump as well," Medvedev stressed.
Russia-US relations
There is a chance to improve relations between Russia and the US, and the focus should be on cooperation on major issues, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday in an interview with Russian TV channels live.
"I think there is always a chance, as the country’s president said, as well as counterparts from the Foreign Ministry, and I said about it as well. The issue is about starting full interaction on the most important, vital issues," Medvedev stressed.
The PM also noted that American business and society, as well as US President Donald Trump are suffering from the effects of Washington’s elite.
"Representatives from major American businesses are coming to me (we’ve got a committee for foreign investments,) 10 or 12 people from America. These are all senior officials from corporations worth hundreds of billions of dollars," Medvedev said, adding that business representatives are voicing their intentions to work on the Russian market. "Speaking about the human factor, I am confident that it greatly differs from the policy currently conducted by the Washington establishment and that, by the way, is damaging President Trump as well," Medvedev stressed.
The prime minister also believes that some politicians in Washington are tackling tasks to their personal advantage with the use of anti-Russian rhetoric. "We’ve got a feeling that a whole number of American politicians are trying to solve their tasks through us and trying to influence their president, thus playing this very same Russian card," Medvedev said.
The prime minister noted that he cannot name similar examples from the past, save the McCarthy years. "Still, the issue then was not about settling accounts with their own president," he added.