MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Russia is ready to give an adequate response to the United States’ aggressive steps but it is still open for cooperation with Washington in case the US side wants it, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday.
"We are realistic about the prospects for dialogue and cooperation, including amid the election year in the United States. We are not expecting too much. We will be acting pragmatically and respond to aggressive moves, if need be," he said during an online discussion on the Russian-US relations organized by the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund.
"At the same time, we are open for cooperation with Washington on a wide spectrum of issues, in case it demonstrates readiness to address things on a constructive and mutually respectful basis," he stressed.
The Russian senior diplomat noted that the Russian-US relations did have examples of constructive cooperation, even in the recent time.
"On April 25, when we marked an anniversary of the biggest event in the history of bilateral relations (the 1945 linkage on the Elbe), Presidents [of Russia Vladimir] Putin and [of the US Donald] Trump issued a special joint statement," he recalled. "Its key message is that the experience of allied relations in struggling against a common threat will obviously preserve its significance at the current time when the entire world is facing new dangerous challenges.".