MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Any US administration wants a weaker Russia and seeks to suppress it as a rival, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"As for the goals that all [US] administrations share, they benefit from weakening Russia and its influence, from weakening the Russian world," he noted in an interview with journalist Marina Kim, excerpts of which were aired on Rossiya-1 television. "The reason is that at the end of the day, it all comes down to [Washington’s] desire to suppress Russia as a rival," Lavrov added.

He pointed out that the Americans had long declared the idea that "there should be no country in the world more influential than the United States." "This is what it’s all about. However, what is telling is their attitude to the Russian language, which has to deal with one of the most important human rights," the Russian top diplomat stressed.

According to him, "none of those in the Republican camp who reportedly offer breakthrough ideas on how to end the Ukraine conflict has mentioned the need to restore the right of the Ukrainian population to speak Russian, learn, teach and receive information in Russian."

The Russian foreign minister emphasized that Moscow had repeatedly explained its position. "None of the Western architects of the so-called Ukrainian settlement pays any attention to this issue," Lavrov said.