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No Return to 'Business As Usual' for Russia and the West - Lavrov

Russia's relations with the West will no longer benefit only one side, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference on Tuesday, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily reported.

“Some of our Western colleagues say that there will be no more business with Russia — and I can say that I agree with them in that there will be no more business as usual, when they try to impose one-sided rules. That story is over,” Lavrov said, the newspaper reported.

In the future Russia will favor relations with the U.S. and Europe that are based on equal rights for all international players in accordance with international law, the minister said, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported.

Lavrov has also said he is confident that the period of strained relations between Russia's and the West will soon end and a new basis for cooperation will be established, the TASS news agency reported.

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