File photo taken on July 16, 2016 shows U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign event in New York, the United States. (Photo: Xinhua/Li Muzi)
The Kremlin on Thursday blamed outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama for the deterioration of ties with Russia, which it said would make it difficult for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to mend bilateral relations.
In a briefing before Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Peru for the APEC summit, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that the Obama administration has driven Russia-U.S. ties into a "dead end," making it hard for Trump's team to improve relations.
Yet Ushakov said Moscow is ready to work with the new U.S. administration, a readiness which he said Trump shared.
In their first phone conversation on Monday, Putin and Trump agreed that bilateral relations "could not get any worse," Ushakov said.
During the conversation, both sides vowed to review the current soured ties, noting the need to create a solid foundation for bilateral relations through the development of trade and their economies, which would help "stimulate a return to pragmatic, mutually beneficial cooperation," according to a Kremlin statement.
Ushakov did not rule out contacts with representatives of the Trump team before Jan. 20 when the inauguration of Trump is due to take place.
But he said it is at present unclear with whom contacts should be conducted, as the new team has only just begun to form.
