Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he wants to see a new "reset" in relations between Russia and the United States.
Relations between Moscow and Washington plunged to a post-Cold War low after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and sanctions imposed on Russia by the West for its role in the conflict with separatists in eastern Ukraine.
And an inquiry chaired by a British judge into the death in London of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko will seriously complicate Russian-British ties, Lavrov told his annual news conference on Tuesday (local time).
The inquiry, which concluded it was probable that senior Kremlin officials ordered Litvinenko's killing, contained groundless accusations and left many questions unanswered, Lavrov said.
Russia also will not allow the West to punish it for conducting an independent foreign policy, he said.
"Attempts are still being made to make unilateral gains and even to punish us for an independent foreign policy," Lavrov said.
"We are ready for the ... most constructive co-operation with our Western partners, including Europe and the United States ... but only and exclusively on an equal and mutually advantageous basis and given non-interference into each other's internal affairs," he said.
Lavrov said the US anti-missile shield and NATO's expansion closer to Russia's borders were "destabilising and short-sighted".
Reuters
