MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - The present-day relationship between Russia and the United States leaves much to be desired, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"We all know that, to put it mildly, the current status of Russia-U.S. relations leaves much to be desired. It would not be an exaggeration to say that our relations have actually dropped to the lowest point since the Cold War," Ryabkov said at a State Duma roundtable on Russia-U.S. relations on Tuesday.
"The foundation of our interaction, which had been built for years, was virtually destroyed by the previous U.S. administration within a short period of time," he said.
"Barack Obama and his entourage had taken a turn to tensions and, later on, to confrontation with us long before the Ukraine crisis erupted," he said.
"Various instruments of pressure were applied to Russia long ago," Ryabkov said. "It would suffice to recall the odious Magnitsky Act passed in Washington back in December 2012, the global hunt for our citizens, such as Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, and the attempt to discredit the Sochi Games," he said.
"The tempo of total and all-inclusive degradation of our relations drastically sped up after the Kyiv coup three years ago," Ryabkov said.