MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. To legislatively declare Russia the United States’ adversary is stupid and irresponsible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Italy’s Libero newspaper.

"As hatred against Russia has spread widely overseas, the potential of cooperation in global and bilateral affairs remains untapped to a large extent," he said. "To legislatively declare Russia an adversary state is stupid and irresponsible," Lavrov stressed, adding that "at least, we in Russia do not use such optical devices to see the United States."

According to the Russian top diplomat, the situation concerning Russian-US relations remains extremely challenging. "The Washington establishment has been overwhelmed by a surge of anti-Russian sentiment, provoked by certain political forces unwilling to put up with the results of last year’s presidential election," he noted.

"The US authorities’ decision to close the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco and the seizure of five diplomatic facilities, which are our state property, was an unprecedented move," Lavrov pointed out.

"It means that at the moment we can’t really expect Washington to take any positive steps," the Russian foreign minister concluded.