Putin: Russia will be glad to revive full-fledged and equal dialogue with US

ST. PETERSBURG, April 9. /TASS/. Russia will be glad to resume full-fledged and equitable dialogue with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the Arctic Forum. According to the Russian leader, the US political system is currently in crisis. "We have never seen such a thing in the United States’ history before. Yes, tough election campaign is underway, However, if a candidate wins, everyone agrees with that and rallies around the head of state to accomplish a national task. We do not see anything like that in the US now. On the contrary, the rift persists. They put their groups’ or parties’ interests above the national ones, that’s what happened," the Russian president noted. "I am not trying to advocate President Trump, we have a lot of disagreements. His administration has slapped a host of sanctions on Russia… However, if full-fledged and equitable dialogue between the US and Russia is revived, including on the issues that are of interest to us and the whole of mankind, on disarmament issues, we will be only too glad. We are ready for that," he said. According to Putin, Moscow and Washington disagree on many global issues. "However, we have examples of cooperation as well. No matter how different our approaches to resolving the Syrian crisis are, we do cooperate. We have common problems in the Arctic, we have lots of issues related to climate change in general," he added. Putin recalled that the US did not sign the Paris Agreement. According to the Russian president, a coordinated decision should be found. "It is hard to expect the global community’s effective work without the United States’ involvement in the process as well as without the involvement of China or India. So, a solution has to be found," he concluded. St. Petersburg is hosting the ‘Arctic: Territory of Dialogue’ 5th International Arctic Forum on April 9-10. ‘The Arctic - An Ocean of Opportunities’ is the event's motto this year. Roscongress is the official organizer, while TASS is the forum’s general information partner and official photohost agency. Read more