Russia seeks new models of cooperation with U.S. – foreign policy expert

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) – A decision of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to terminate the Russian-U.S. agreement on law enforcement and drug control cooperation aims at a new level of bilateral relations, Foreign and Defense Policy Council Chairman Fyodor Lukyanov told Interfax on Wednesday.

“This is absolutely not a cold war; why would we do that? This is a series of Russian consistent steps towards the dismantlement of the relationship, including institutions of bilateral relations, Russia and the United States formed mostly in the 1990s. The situation was completely
different when Russia and the United States were shaping their new relations and Russia was a weaker partner for objective reasons,” Lukyanov said.

The Russian administration wants to rebuild relations with the United States, he said. “That is, we will gradually abandon the old institutions and forms of interaction, whether it is democracy and civil society cooperation, the Nunn-Lugar program or drug cooperation. If the United States has a wish, we will build new relations on a new basis. The balance of forces is now different from what it used to be,” the Council chairman said.

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