Russian FM says Russia wants “constructive dialogue” with US

MOSCOW – Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow is open to a constructive dialogue with Washington and wants to preserve a landmark Cold War-era nuclear arms accord.

Sergey Lavrov insisted Wednesday that Moscow has honoured the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, rejecting U.S. claims of Russian violations of it. He argued that grievances should be discussed in talks.

Russia-U.S. ties have sunk to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian conflict, the Syrian war and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Lavrov said that “we don’t want an escalation of confrontation.”

He said that Washington expects Moscow to simply accept its arguments while discussing international crises and nuclear-related issues, adding that common ground can be found only on the basis of balance of interests and mutual respect.