In Moscow, the US Senator is waiting for "the repair of the relationship"

The head of a US legislative delegation visiting Russia on Tuesday expressed his hopes for "a new day" in repairing bilateral relations.

Republican Senator Richard Shelby met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov two weeks before the planned Presidents' Summit in Helsinki.

"We come here aware that we have a tense relationship, but we could have a better relationship between the United States and Russia because we have common interests in the world and we hope to be able to work with them," he said. Shelby. "We can be competitors, we are competitors, but we do not have to be adversaries".

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and American Donald Trump could meet alone, without their aides, before the official start of the summit on July 16. .

Shelby expressed hope that the summit "may be the beginning of a new day".

"We will have to wait and see what will happen, and go forward, but we recognize that the world benefits, I believe, if Russia and the United States have less tension," he added. Shelby.

Lavrov congratulated lawmakers on the eve of the American Independence Day. He said his "real hope is that his visit symbolizes the resumption of relations between our parliaments".

Relations between Russia and the United States are at their lowest level in decades. Washington has applied sanctions because of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and its actions in Ukraine.

Subsequently, legislators met with their counterparts in the Russian parliament. Russian news agencies reported that lawmakers were waiting for a meeting with Putin, but Peskov said such a meeting was not on the presidential agenda.