DVORIKI (Sputnik) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that Moscow follows the US presidential campaign, though there is no major difference in whether the next president is a Republican or a Democrat.
"Of course, we follow the election campaign and its peripeteia. There is an opinion that it has been easier for our country, since Soviet times, with a Republican president, rather than a Democratic one… But I can honestly tell you that I do not see a major difference."
"When we receive offers to restore, even gradually, the channels, mechanisms for interaction and dialogue that were frozen by our American partners, I am certain that we are not going to ogle, and will agree to restore these channels," Lavrov said at the Terra Scientia International Youth Forum.
The Democratic and Republican campaigns kicked off this spring, with over 20 candidates announcing presidential bids as of August.
Both major parties will formally pick their nominees in the run-up to nationwide elections during next year’s primaries tentatively scheduled for February-June and respective national conventions held in July.