MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — Tefft said at a conference in Moscow, devoted to the Alaska-Siberia 2015 project:
"Despite the current tensions in our relationship I am confident that Americans and Russians will continue to find common cause on issues of mutual interest."
Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated over the Ukraine crisis. The West accuses Moscow of fuelling the internal Ukrainian conflict, imposing several rounds of sanctions against it.
Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations and has actively participated in international efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict.
The Alaska-Siberia Air Route (ALSIB) operated 1942-1945, stretched 6,000 miles across the territory of the United States, Canada and the Soviet Union.
Over 8,000 US warplanes were sent to the USSR along ALSIB to aid the country in its fight against Nazi Germany. In 2015, planes will take off from US territory to once again repeat the historic route to Russia.
"I know there are lots of other projects [apart from Alaska-Siberia 2015] like the Fort Ross project in California, and others that continue and those that have been in place for a while. There's work continuing on those," Tefft said.
California's Fort Ross is a US national landmark and a former Russian settlement. In 2012, Fort Ross celebrated its bicentennial with members of Russian and US official delegations and thousands of guests.
