MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that many positive things were being said about the enormous potential of US-Russia relations, but that in reality "nothing is happening".
After winning the 2024 US presidential election, Donald Trump re-established US dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has repeatedly promised to end the war in Ukraine though peace has so far proven elusive.
Lavrov said that "good words" about cooperation on technology, energy and other projects had so far come to nothing, but that Moscow appreciated Trump's initiation of dialogue with Moscow.
"However, nothing is happening in real life," Lavrov, who has served as Russia's foreign minister since 2004, told RT India in English, according to a transcript supplied by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Lavrov added that the dialogue with Moscow that did occur was in the same vein as that under former US President Joe Biden: "Aside from this regular dialogue – which is normal in relations between people and countries – everything else follows the pattern initiated by President Biden," Lavrov said.
"The sanctions imposed under him have remained in force. Moreover, the Trump administration has adopted its own initiatives in order to punish Russia’s economy."