SIRIUS /Federal Territory/, March 4. /TASS/. Moscow-Washington relations will be determined by a "set of ideas" that will become apparent after the US presidential election in November, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a session of the World Youth Festival.

"Of course, we will work with any president elected by the US people. But our relations will depend on the set of ideas espoused by the new leadership," the minister said, answering a question from the US delegation to the festival.

Lavrov emphasized that the US is a great power with a great people that has a record of fighting for its independence. According to him, any equitable world order would leave the US as one of the major countries not only in the West, but also in the other regions of the world. However, Lavrov recounted the strategy chosen by the US government in 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. Back then, "just to vent his spleen," then-President Barack Obama expelled Russian diplomats and their families, thereby undermining Russia-US relations.