“Currently the inter-parliamentary relations between Russia and the United States are practically frozen. I would like such relations revived,” Lukin said. “I am deeply convinced that while meetings at the presidents’ level play a major role in a process of positive development in our relations, other contacts are important to making them stable, including at the cultural, economic and inter-parliamentary levels.”
He stressed that the US Senate plays an important role in forming and carrying out American foreign policy.
“That’s why we would like to restore these relations, but so far the US Senate is not showing any interest in reviving them,” Lukin noted. “Time heals. It is important to talk to each other rather than shout past one another.”
Lukin made the comment on the sidelines of a book presentation event hosted by the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe and in the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington, DC.
US-Russian relations deteriorated following disagreements over the crisis in Ukraine. The United States imposed sanctions against Russia after a referendum in Crimea in 2014 in which a vast majority of its inhabitants decided to reunite with Russia. Washington and its allies have accused Moscow of meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs, which Russian officials have repeatedly denied.
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