WASHINGTON, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - The United States is not looking to escalate tensions with Russia, but it also refuses to yield on its security principles, US State Department stated.
"The United States does not seek confrontation with Russia, but we cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which security in Europe and North America rest. We've said repeatedly we would be firm about principles at stake, there may be a disagreement on them, but we remain committed to upholding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Jen Psaki, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, said Friday.
Psaki also pointed to positive results of US-Russian cooperation and expressed a willingness to work with Russia going forward.
"The United States and Russia have been able to work together on a range of issues, whether that's destroying nuclear stockpiles to cooperating to remove and destroy Syria's chemical weapons. So our focus is on continuing to engage with Russia on areas of mutual concern," Psaki said.
The spokesperson conceded that the two countries would still certainly have disagreements on some issues, and finished by stressing the fact that the United States would continue to stand by its principles.
Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated following Crimea's reunification with Russia in March. The European Union and the United States have implemented several rounds of sanctions against Russia over its alleged interference in the Ukrainian conflict. Moscow denied any involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, branding the sanctions as illegal and introduced a one-year ban on certain food product imports from the countries that imposed the restrictions.
