Russia intends to stick to principled policy in relations with USA

Russia intends to stick to "a principled but not confrontational policy" in its relations with the USA, Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov has told at a session of the State Duma committee for international affairs on Friday. He stressed that "the general climate in the world will depend" on the dialogue between Russia and the USA. The Russian foreign minister further said that the start of the relations of Russia with the USA in connection with the election of new US President George W. Bush "was not easy." "However, we did not react so sharply to verbal attacks by the Republicans in relation to Russia in the course of the electoral campaign." Now, according to the Russian foreign minister, these attacks "will be met with adequate response from Russia." At the same time, Igor Ivanov stressed that Russia will not use the methods of the cold war period. "We are ready for a constructive dialogue with the USA but with due account given to Russia's national interests," the minister added. He also said that on Thursday he held a 30-minute talk with the US Secretary of State. According to Igor Ivanov, he learnt from the talk that the USA "would like to establish a constructive dialogue with Russia at all levels." Ivanov also said that in his conversation with the US Secretary of State he also touched upon the problems of "strategic stability at the global level." Ivanov and the US Secretary of State were unanimous in the opinion that all the problems of bilateral relations must be discussed by both "diplomats and parliamentarians, which will enable both countries to look for mutually acceptable solutions."

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