Russia is open to contacts with the US under the Donald Trump administration, the ball is in the US court, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with journalist Marina Kim.

"[Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin said at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club that he is always ready to communicate. It was not us who interrupted the communication: the ball is in the US court," Lavrov said in response to a question.

At the same time, he emphasized that Russia has no expectations from the new US administration, but will assess its concrete steps. "There will be no expectations and no assumptions. We will judge by concrete cases," the top diplomat pointed out.

The Kremlin is watching the process of forming the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, but it is not Moscow's top priority, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "We are certainly watching this, but believe me, it is not our main priority. It is too early to talk about anything now," the spokesman said.

Russia, US have many annoyances, it is hard to pick worst one, Peskov said. 

The list of annoyances in relations between Russia and the United States is so vast that it is difficult to pick a priority one for discussion, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov wenton, whether there was hope that when President-elect Donald Trump's team takes over, hindrances to the normal operation of the UN headquarters will be removed.

"It is too early to speculate about hopes," Peskov said. "This is not the only question that can be put to the US side. The agenda of annoyances is so vast that it would be wrong to single out one issue as a priority," Peskov said.

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Trump to push Zelensky to start talks, reject NATO membership, explains expert

US President-elect Donald Trump will not halt military support for Ukraine during his new presidential term, but will set out two primary preconditions, says Tetsuo Kotani, senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs.

According to the expert, first and foremost, Trump will demand that Zelensky sit at the negotiation table to discuss a ceasefire with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Second, he will insist on shelving Ukraine’s plans to join NATO," he said, speaking to foreign journalists.

He also argued that, if Moscow and Kyiv reach a ceasefire agreement, Washington will push for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that, during his second term in office, Trump will seek to withdraw from all ongoing conflicts, including in Ukraine and the Middle East.

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Sources: Media - News Agency