MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow sees an opportunity to overcome the recent deadlock in US-Russian relations and is ready for cooperation with Washington, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday.
"Currently, we presume that there is an opportunity to bring the relations out of the dead end," Zakharova said in an interview with the Echo of Moscow radio station.
Russia is ready to cooperate with the United States, the spokeswoman added.
The Russia-US relations soured three years ago after an armed conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine. Washington and its allies accused Moscow of fueling the conflict in Donbass and called Crimea's reunification with Russia a breach of international law. The United States has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia since 2014.
Russia has repeatedly refuted the allegations of interference in Ukraine’s affairs, and has pointed out that Crimea held a popular referendum in which the vast majority of residents voted to rejoin Russia. Moscow has also dismissed all allegations of interference in the US presidential election as absurd.
On Friday, the US president-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Trump’s inauguration ceremony will begin at 14:30 GMT on Friday and will end past midnight. It will be held in the Capitol in Washington, DC.
