Russia welcomed Washington’s attitude of cooling off the practice of mutual diplomatic expulsions and is ready for constructive dialogue with the new U.S. administration, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Wednesday.
"Moscow's position is the same," the minister said, "We would like to start working and conduct a constructive dialogue on all issues of mutual concern, and there are a good many issues of this kind."
His remarks came after a telephone conversation Tuesday with U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, which he regarded as very constructive.
He denied a reported U.S. assurance of no further diplomat expulsions, saying the issue was not mentioned.
Ivanov said he also exchanged views with Powell on possible cooperation between Russia and the U.S., as well as with other countries, in stabilizing the situation in the Balkan and the Middle East regions.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko expressed appreciation over the Tuesday statement by the U.S. State Department, which said the U.S. was willing to "get past the current complex moment in U.S.-Russian relations and work to improve and develop them".
Russia "is prepared to start urgent and constructive discussion with the new U.S. administration about all pressing international and bilateral problems," Yakovenko said in a statement.
Last week, Russia and the U.S. announced the expulsion of four diplomats from each other's countries, marking the most serious spy row between them in recent history. Both sides however now seem to want to stop the tit-for-tat game and normalize their relations.
(Xinhua 03/28/2001)
