MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Moscow remains open to cooperation with the United States but the Americans are creating obstacles, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the TV BRICS international network.

"While remaining open to cooperation with all countries, including major powers such as the United States," – just like India, China, Indonesia, and Brazil – Russia is facing a situation "where the Americans themselves create artificial obstacles," he noted.

In this regard, Lavrov pointed out that such steps by Washington compelled Russia "to seek additional secure avenues for the development of our financial, economic, integration, and logistical projects with BRICS countries."

The top Russian diplomat pointed out that during Moscow’s BRICS chairmanship in 2024, at the Kazan summit, "a number of Russian initiatives were adopted for implementation, including alternative payment platforms, mechanisms for settlements in national currencies, reinsurance facilities for intra-BRICS trade and with BRICS partners, the establishment of a grain exchange, and a new investment platform." "These initiatives are not intended as a provocation against anyone, primarily the United States, but rather arise from the fact that the United States places strict control over all processes in these areas and demands unilateral concessions," Lavrov specified.

"Consequently, we have not refused contact with them to the extent that they are willing to engage on a mutually beneficial basis. Naturally, we are interested, together with our BRICS partners, in creating an architecture that will not be subject to unlawful actions by any player on the Western flank," he emphasized.