Kremlin: Putin hopes for better US ties despite sanctions

The Kremlin on Monday reportedly said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is still hoping to mend relations between Moscow and the United States despite U.S. sanctions on Russia expected to go into effect this week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia will “wait and see what will happen, if anything” with regard to the sanctions.

“The Russian president is hoping for the best and, despite all this, wants to pull our bilateral ties out of the deep crisis they are in,” he said, according to Reuters. “[Putin] still has that desire. But at the same time nobody plans to go into mourning if our approach is not reciprocated by Washington.”

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The Trump administration announced earlier this month that it planned to impose new sanctions against Russia over its use of a nerve agent against an ex-Russian spy in Britain. The State Department has said the sanctions will go into effect Aug. 22.

By announcing the sanctions, the U.S. joined European allies in blaming Moscow for the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Trump faced criticism last month for his hours-long one-on-one meeting with Putin in Helsinki. After the summit, Trump cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election before walking the statement back a day later.

What was said between the two leaders in a private meeting has been the source of much speculation.