Gorbachev says Russia-U.S. ties do not depend on Nov. elections

     Moscow should pursue "a constructive dialogue" with Washington regardless of the outcome of the November 4 U.S. presidential elections, the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Monday.

     A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey put 37-year-old Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama on 52%, around 10 points ahead of his Republican rival, 72-year-old Arizona Senator John McCain, who is trailing with 42%.

     "It does not matter who wins [the elections]. In my opinion, both candidates share the same views on foreign policy," Mikhail Gorbachev said in an interview with the Echo Moskvy radio.

     He said in relations with the U.S., Russia must follow the approach to foreign policy developed and implemented by former president and the country's current prime minister, Vladimir Putin.

     "I must give him credit [for his policies] - he always tried to establish contacts and conduct dialogue," Gorbachev said, adding that despite "its imperial ambitions" the White House was also interested in cooperation with Russia and Europe.

     Relations between Russia and the U.S. have plunged to a post-Cold War low in recent years over a host of differences, including the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Central Europe and a brief conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, a Georgian breakaway republic, in August.

RIA Novosti // 27.10.2008