[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Russia hopes for balanced U.S. decisions on bilateral relations

MOSCOW, February 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian foreign minister said Monday he hoped that the U.S. Congress will be making balanced and constructive decisions in regard to American-Russian relations.

Minister Sergei Lavrov met Monday in Moscow with Tom Lantos, the chairman of the U.S. Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs, to discuss Russian-American relations.

"Special attention was paid to the necessity of making them [the relations] stable and independent of any political trends' influence, as well as of removing artificial obstacles, first of all, in the economic sector," the foreign ministry said in a statement following the meeting between two officials.

Lavrov and Lantos discussed proposals to enhance permanent mechanisms of inter-parliamentary cooperation between Russia and the United States.

The ministry also said in the statement that the high-ranking officials exchanged their opinions on key international issues, including cooperation in the development of civilian nuclear energy in compliance with nuclear non-proliferation provisions, the situation in Iraq as well as Iran and Kosovo issues.