Lavrov Accuses Obama of Deliberately Destroying US-Russia Relations

Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, accused Barack Obama's administration of "deliberately destroying US-Russia relations" and expressed hope that relations between the two countries would improve under Donald Trump's administration. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Thursday, December 2, Lavrov stated, "We are confident that the new [US] government does not want to repeat the mistakes of the previous administration that intentionally destroyed US-Russia relations." The Russian Foreign Minister emphasized, "Naturally, we welcome the willingness for cooperation between our countries that Trump demonstrated during his election campaign." Before being elected as President of the United States, Donald Trump repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and his leadership, particularly in contrast to what he termed the "weakness" of Barack Obama and his rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Trump also promised to improve relations with Moscow if he won the presidential election. After Trump's election, Vladimir Putin congratulated him on his "historic victory," and the two discussed "improving relations," "the Syrian crisis," and "counter-terrorism" in a phone conversation. The US and Russia have had a tumultuous relationship in recent years, with one of the reasons being the Syrian issue, alongside other crises in Moscow-Washington relations such as Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, or NATO's expansion to its western borders. Despite the fact that a US-led coalition and the Russian air force are both involved in the Syrian civil war and have conducted attacks against Islamic State groups and al-Nusra Front, close cooperation between them has not developed. In his recent remarks, the Russian Foreign Minister stated that Moscow is "always ready for realistic and honest dialogue" with Washington and expressed hope that the new US administration would take "real steps" in foreign policy for "constructive cooperation."