Kremlin rules out better Russia-US relations

"Rosy prospects for the normalization of Russian-US ties are not visible on the horizon," Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

His remarks came after US Democrats took control of the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years in a rebuke to US President Donald Trump during midterm elections.

Peskov, however, stressed that Moscow is still seeking dialogue to resolve outstanding problems.

"But that does not mean that we are not aiming for dialogue, that we don't want dialogue, because we are facing a lot of problems," he said, pointing to arms control as one of the outstanding issues.

"These problems will not disappear without talks," the spokesman stressed.

He also played down the midterm outcome would further complicate Russia-US ties, noting that bilateral relations were already tricky and reiterating that Moscow had not interfered in the US vote.

Since late 2016, US spying agencies have been accusing Russia of meddling in the American presidential election.

Back then, Washington alleged that Russia had influenced the election in favor of Donald Trump, running a massive secret social media trolling and targeted messaging operation, an allegation Moscow strongly denied. 

The US has imposed a series of unilateral sanctions against Moscow over the claims.

On Tuesday, the Trump’s administration said it will impose new sanctions against Moscow over the poisoning of a former spy in Britain.

London accused Moscow of ordering the poisoning attack, which it says was carried out using a sophisticated Soviet-era military-grade nerve agent.

Russia has denied any involvement and even some officials in Moscow believe the entire story, which led to a serious political fallout with the Western countries, was fabricated by the British intelligence agencies to target Russia.