Moscow willing to cooperate with Trump in addressing common challenges: Russian FM

Moscow is willing to cooperate with the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump in seeking solutions to their shared problems and fighting common threats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

At his annual press conference, Lavrov reiterated Moscow's readiness to work with Washington "in a business-like manner" and "on the basis of equality and respect of mutual interests."

Trump, who will take the oath of office on Friday, has said that he was eager to concentrate on the fundamental interests of the United States in security, which Lavrov said coincided in many ways with the guidelines of Moscow's foreign policy proclaimed by President Vladimir Putin.

"When we hear that in foreign policy the main thing for Donald Trump is the struggle against terrorism, we can only cheer it," said the diplomat.

Again he criticized the outgoing administration under Barack Obama for failing to keep its anti-terror promise and attempting to introduce double standards in the war-torn Syria.

Moscow considered it appropriate to invite representatives of the new U.S. administration to the upcoming intra-Syria talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, Lavrov said, adding that he hoped the new administration would accept the invitation.

"This will be the first official contact between Russia and the Trump administration," he said.

Commenting on Trump's recent proposal of lifting sanctions imposed on Russia in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal with Moscow, Lavrov said Moscow supported the necessity of nuclear disarmament, but "the issue was much broader than the reduction of nuclear arsenals."

One of the priority tasks of restoring Russia-U.S. relations was returning to dialogue on strategic stability, said Lavrov. Endi