MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry is ready to restore cooperation with Pentagon but attempts to build dialogue with Russia from a position of strength are fruitless, Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.

While commenting on a statement made by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, in which he said that the US remained "open to opportunities to restore a cooperative relationship with Moscow while… ensuring our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength", the Russian defense minister stated that "attempts to build dialogue with Russia from a position of strength are fruitless." "We expect that Pentagon’s position will be clarified today in Baku, at a meeting between Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Valery Makarov and his US counterpart General Joseph Dunford," Shoigu added.