US Election Results Not to Affect Desire to Inflict Strategic Defeat on Russia: Lavrov

"There will be presidential election in the United States soon. There is no division between Democrats and Republicans over Russia and China. One may be 'tougher', the other 'even tougher,’ but in principle we don't see any difference. For both, no matter who wins the election, we are by and large the enemy," the top diplomat said in an interview with Bosnia’s ATV channel, TASS reported.

"Whether we are an adversary or an enemy is a nuance. But the 'strategic defeat' that they say should be inflicted on Russia is the goal of the American establishment," he added. 

"As Russian President Vladimir Putin said when answering a similar question, we will be ready to work with whomever the American people elect, provided there is a counter-willingness," Lavrov added.

The US presidential election will be held on November 5. Former president Donald Trump has already won the necessary number of delegates to be nominated as the Republican candidate for the presidency. Incumbent President Joe Biden, who is running for a second term, has secured the support of a sufficient number of delegates from the Democratic Party.

Thus, the battle will predictably be between the same candidates as four years ago, when Biden defeated Trump for re-election to the nation's highest office.