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Russia becomes hostage to US domestic political struggle, senate speaker says

The Russian senate speaker stressed that good relations between Moscow and Washington are crucial for global stability

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russia has become hostage to the domestic political struggle in the US, which is expected to intensify in 2018 ahead of the congressional elections, Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Friday.

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Kremlin hails US readiness to cooperate with Russia

"There is a serious domestic political struggle going on in the United States and Russia has become hostage to this internal political fight," she said.

"The process is very complex, while in 2018, when the congressional elections are planned to be held, the fight will escalate," Matviyenko added.

The Russian senate speaker stressed that good relations between Moscow and Washington were crucial for global stability - a fact that responsible politicians should understand. "We will continue to make efforts to build dialogue [with Washington]," she said, adding that those who wanted a new arms race "are very much interested" in tensions between Russia and the United States.

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Valentina Matviyenko

Eurasian Economic Union

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