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Russia says will not initiate ‘reset’ of relations with US

The current US administration has one-and-a-half years of work ahead, Europe, the world and Russia certainly cannot wait so long, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov says

MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Moscow is ready for dialogue with any United States administration, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov told a newspaper on Tuesday.

"The current US administration has one-and-a-half years of work ahead. Europe, the world and Russia certainly cannot wait so long," Meshkov told Austrian newspaper Der Standard in an interview published on the foreign ministry website. "We are ready for dialogue with anyone in the US leadership, regardless of who represents it."

Asked whether Russia’s foreign minister could invite Washington to push a "reset" button to signal a fresh start to relations, Meshkov said that "Russia never copies anyone".

Shortly after Obama took office in 2009, his then Secretary of State Hilary Clinton presented her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov with a red "reset" button, symbolising US hopes to mend ties that had been strained under Obama's predecessor George W. Bush.