MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Russia is not going to lecture the United States regarding the operation of its electoral system, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian and foreign media outlets in an interview on crucial issues on the international agenda.
"As far as our approach is concerned, we have said more than once that we respect the right of the American people to decide its own future. Though possibly, their electoral system is the most archaic of all that there exist in countries of at least some importance around the world," he said.
Lavrov recalled that he raised that issue in conversations with his US counterparts, including former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who acknowledged the existence of certain flaws in the US electoral system and remarked that the Americans were aware of that and would address the issue themselves.
"It is my strong wish to see the Americans at least feel no worries about our own problems that they point to here and take it easy when it comes to problems of the same sort in other countries. Each country has its own traditions. If the Americans are prepared to stick to a tradition that considerably distorts the expression of people’s will, it is their right. If they are happy about everything, and all is correct (though far from everything turns out to be correct), how can we advise them on something? May they sort things out themselves," Lavrov said.