MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Moscow is ready for a constructive dialogue and cooperation with the US in resolving serious bilateral issues but Washington should also show readiness, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday, commenting on US Ambassador Jon Huntsman’s response to a social media user's question.

"We are very pleased to see the ambassador call for normalizing bilateral dialogue but we were surprised by his statement that Russia must come to the US ‘with a deeper sense of responsibility in terms of solving the issues that confront our relationship’," Zakharova said. "The matter is that Russia has always been extremely responsible towards relations with the United States, which can’t be said for our American counterparts," she added.

The Russian diplomat pointed to Washington’s attempts to exert pressure on Moscow particularly through sanctions, military build-up and defamatory media reports. "All of this indicates neither Washington’s intention to build constructive dialogue nor its responsible approach towards ensuring global stability, while its desire to hinder our development and guarantee its own global dominance is clear," Zakharova noted.

Terrorism and cyber security

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, it is the US that lacks responsibility. In this regard, she mentioned the US-led missile attack on Syria and Washington’s active support for the Ukrainian coup. "We cannot understand why Washington has been reluctant to resume the activities of Russia-US working group on the fight against terrorism," Zakharova said.

"Maybe the reason is that the US has been trying to use terror groups active in Syria to overthrow the legitimate government in Damascus"?

While speaking about US allegations about Russian hackers, the diplomat noted that "Washington refused to establish a bilateral working group on cyber security." "A group like that could professionally discuss cyber issues," she added. "Their refusal to engage in direct dialogue once again proved that despite their accusations, they just don’t have any serious evidence that could be presented to experts, so it is nothing more but a propaganda stunt," Zakharova said.

Property rights violations

"On March 26, the US authorities expelled 60 Russian diplomats and closed the Russian consulate in Seattle, while the consul’s residence is Russia’s property," Zakharova noted, adding that Washington had previously seized five diplomatic facilities in breach of property rights.

"Unfortunately, this is not the full list of issues that the Americans owe us for," she concluded. "I would like to reiterate our openness and constructive approach, as well as willingness to cooperate on all of the aforementioned issues. However, Washington needs to show similar approach, otherwise it will be impossible to overcome tensions in our relations," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.