Russia hopes to sign non-interference pact with U.S.

MOSCOW, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia has reiterated its wish to reach an agreement with the United States on non-interference in each other's internal affairs, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday.

Maria Zakharova said the ministry handed U.S. ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman a memorandum with such a proposal last Thursday amid "long-standing and systematic aspirations of Washington to influence the developments in Russia in its own interests."

"It reaffirmed the willingness to exchange letters or other forms of guarantees of mutual non-interference in electoral and other internal political processes," Zakharova said.

"It's up to the American side to respond," she added.

Zakharova recalled that Russia had been proposing since the 1990s to reach an official agreement with the United States to guarantee non-interference in each other's affairs. Washington has consistently rejected this.

The United States has been accusing Russia of interference in the U.S. presidential elections in 2016, which has been denied by Russia. Enditem