[attach id=370878 size="medium"]Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday repeated criticism of the US-led air campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria. Photo: Reuters[/attach]

Moscow called yesterday for a new “reset 2.0” in relations with Washington, saying the situation in Ukraine that had led to Western sanctions against Russia was improving thanks to Kremlin peace initiatives.

Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of supporting a pro-Russian rebellion in east Ukraine and have imposed sanctions, which they have repeatedly tightened since Russia an-nexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March. The conflict has brought relations between Moscow and the West to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War. US President Barack Obama said last week that the sanctions could be lifted if Russia takes the path of peace and diplomacy.

In TV interviews, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was time to repeat the “reset”, a word Washington used to describe an attempt to mend ties early in Obama’s presidency. However, he also lashed out at Nato’s “Cold War mentality”, criticised Washington for excluding Russia’s ally Bashar al-Assad from its campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria.

Lavrov said that thanks to “initiatives of the Russian President”, the situation was improving on the ground in Ukraine, where a ceasefire has been in place for several weeks.

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