Russia expects 'constructive' cooperation from US

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA

Russia expects "constructive" cooperation during U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's coming visit to Moscow, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

"We would like to note that we look forward to fruitful negotiations," the ministry said in a statement.

Tillerson will pay a working visit to Moscow on Wednesday to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. There is no scheduled meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Tillerson.

Lavrov and Tillerson are expected to discuss bilateral relations plus Syria, Ukraine, Libya, Afghanistan and North Korea.

"It is obvious that Russian-American relations are going through the most difficult period since the end of the Cold War," the ministry said.

It claimed the previous U.S. administration of Barack Obama had "aggravated" tensions.

Ties between Moscow and Washington became tense after the U.S. last week fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military air base American officials believe was used to carry out a deadly chemical attack in Syria last Tuesday.