MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti) - "Russia is not a strategic enemy of the US," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice believes. "We develop good relations with this country," the official said live at the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Wednesday.
"Russia is our strategic partner in such issues as the non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons and the peace process in the Balkans and the Middle East," Rice pointed out.
At the same time, she noted that "it is necessary to accelerate Russia's democratic development to enhance the Russian-American relations".
Rice also underlined she hopes the Russian-American summit due in Moscow on May 9 will be arranged well.
The secretary of state does not consider the US as striving to increase its influence in the post-Soviet space.
"People feel that they want more freedom, which is related to democratic development. They must have opportunities to express their free will, and then they will choose democracy," she announced. According to the official, the role of the US in "color revolutions" was to support people's "right to freedom of opinion and expression".
"This was the case in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan," Condoleezza Rice said.
"These peoples do not want the Russian influence to decline there," she added.
However, she noted that both the US and Russia must consolidate there positions in the post-Soviet space economically.
"There are no losers in this game," the US secretary of state concluded.
