Help Trump to establish constructive dialogue with Russia: Putin to US businessmen

St. Petersburg: Expressing concerns over Russian-US relations hitting record-low since Cold War, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on American businessmen to help establish 'constructive dialogue' between the two nations.

"Help us to restore normal political dialogue, I ask you on behalf of Russia and I appeal to the American side - help the newly elected president, the head of the administration of the United States," Tass news agency quoted Putin as saying at the plenary session of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017 in St. Petersburg on Friday.

Maintaining that Russia would continue the dialogue with US President Donald Trump and the new administration, President Putin said that serious efforts on both sides are needed to achieve serious success in the matter.

He said both Russia and US have witnessed the collapse of the groundwork of bilateral cooperation that had taken decades to build.

President Putin recalled that Russia and the United States are influential world powers and asserted that the two sides maintain a dialogue within the framework of different formats in the Group of 20 in the APEC and other organizations and interact on key global and regional issues.

He said the process of talks between Russia and US should continue as there is no chance of getting away from it all.

President Putin thanked the US businessmen for their participation in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum amid continuing slump in Russian-US relations.

"I believe that if a sound, pragmatic look is taken at this situation, where mutually beneficial economic contacts are curtailed, it will become clear that it cannot suit Russian or US businesses," he said.

President Putin expressed hope that the business dialogue in the framework of the forum, initiatives and certain ideas of representatives of Russian and US businesses will help to form a favourable environment for solving this uneasy task.

Asserting that United States has always remained Russia's significant trade partner, President Putin said that only strong trade and investment ties might ensure a reliable safety net from political volatility.

President Putin noted that US was Russia's key trade partner during the emerging Soviet state and the American business actively helped the industrialization.

"Americans are good businessmen and as soon as they saw that Russia has money amid high prices on energy resources, they asked for the money. We were not greedy, we paid for all, I want this to be taken into account," he said.

President Putin stressed that Moscow would do its best to make business for American partners profitable in Russia.