PSKOV. May 30 (Interfax) - Moscow hopes that Ukraine will eventually be left aside in Russian-U.S. relations and that more pressing problems will be addressed, and it expects a more serious and sober attitude from Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"I'd like this to happen," Ryabkov said when asked by reporters on Tuesday whether Russian-U.S. bilateral relations could be revived by taking the Ukraine issue off the table.
"There are lots of items on the real Russian-U.S. agenda that should be addressed immediately, such as counter-terrorism, regional conflicts, strategic stability, arms control, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and so on," he said.
"Of course, we cannot fully separate one issue from another, as everything is interrelated and intertwined, especially in the world of politics and diplomacy. Yet, for business's sake, we would like to see a more serious approach to certain problems that actually bear no relation to Donetsk, Luhansk and the situation in southeastern Ukraine," he said.
Moscow is ready for a more pragmatic relationship with U.S. partners, as no results can be achieved in certain matters without Russia-U.S. interaction, Ryabkov said.
"Hopefully, common sense will eventually prevail," he said.