Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: The economic outlook for Russia and the United States is not optimistic

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that although Washington is continuously pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine, Russia remains open to cooperating with the United States, but does not have optimistic expectations for the economic relations between the two countries.

Reuters reported that Lavrov said during an interview with Russian media on Monday (February 9th) that he believes the US's established goal is to pursue "economic hegemony", and "in the economic field, we also see no bright prospects at all".

Previously, several Russian officials have stated that if the Ukraine issue is ultimately resolved peacefully, there is a possibility of a significant recovery in the economic relations between Russia and the United States.

Although US President Trump has also spoken about reviving economic cooperation with Moscow and hosted Russian President Putin on the US mainland after returning to the White House, he has still intensified the implementation of more stringent sanctions in the energy sector, which is of crucial importance to Russia.

Lavrov also mentioned Trump's hostile attitude towards the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) mechanism.

He pointed out: "It is the Americans themselves who are deliberately creating obstacles on this path (i.e., integrating into the BRICS mechanism)… We are merely forced to seek additional, protected ways to develop cooperation projects in areas such as finance, economy, and logistics with the BRICS countries."