Russia calls for ‘reset’ in US relations

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for ‘reset 2.0’ in what has become an increasingly shaky relationship between Russia and the United States.

However, he blamed the United States for the breaking down of relations.

“It is absolutely in our interests to normalise relations but we didn’t wreck them,” Lavrov told a Russian TV channel. “The current US administration is today wrecking much of the co-operation structures that it created itself along with us. Most likely, something more will come up - a reset No 2 or a reset 2.0."

The first ‘reset’ came back in 2010 when then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited US President Barack Obama at the White House after years of sour relations, particularly following Russia’s 2008 war with Georgia, an aspiring Nato member.

The United States sanctioned Russia this year over its action in conflict-ridden Ukraine. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine back in March and has since been accused by the West of militarily supporting the rebels in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia has consistently denied these charges.

Lavrov insisted that Russia did not feel isolated on the international stage.

“Having said that though, I want to emphasize in particular that we do not want to go to extremes and abandon the European and American directions in our foreign economic co-operation,” Lavrov said. "It is important that our partners understand the futility of ultimatums and threats.”
A ceasefire has now stood for several weeks in Ukraine and Lavrov said that the situation there is improving. Nato reported this week that a significant number of Russian conventional troops withdrew from eastern Ukraine, although several of them remain just over the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Addressing the UN General Assembly this week, Obama pledged to lift sanctions on Russia if it proved willing to work diplomatically to secure peace in Ukraine. During his own Assembly speech, Lavrov accused that the United States and Europe of supporting a ‘coup d’etat’ in Ukraine and of being unable to change their Cold War ‘genetic code’.