--- title: Russia U.S. Relations 'Worse' Than During Cold War: Kremlin description: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Petrov says relations could improve if President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin meet canonical: https://time.com/4722615/donald-trump-russia-cold-war-putin-kremlin/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-03T12:06:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:09:59.090Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S.-Russia Relations Are 'Worse' Than During Cold War: Kremlin og:description: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Petrov says relations could improve if Presidents Trump and President Putin meet og:url: https://time.com/4722615/donald-trump-russia-cold-war-putin-kremlin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S.-Russia Relations Are 'Worse' Than During Cold War: Kremlin twitter:description: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Petrov says relations could improve if Presidents Trump and President Putin meet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # U.S.-Russia Relations Are 'Worse' Than During the Cold War, Kremlin Spokesman Says ## Video: U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley Says Russia Was 'Certainly Involved' in 2016 Election [Watch (HLS stream): U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley Says Russia Was 'Certainly Involved' in 2016 Election](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SXfGGJKn.m3u8) (0:34)  _Published 2017-04-02. Nikki Haley, President Trump's Ambassador to the United Nations, said unequivocally Sunday that she believes Russia was "involved" in the 2016 election._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 3, 2017 12:06 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 3, 2017 12:06 PM UTC A Kremlin spokesman said [relations between the U.S. and Russia](http://time.com/4718173/vladimir-putin-russia-donald-trump-election/) may be more tense than they were during the [Cold War](http://nation.time.com/2013/05/15/the-cold-war-returneth/). In an interview with [_ABC’_s This Week on Sunday](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/extended-transcript-george-stephanopoulos-interviews-kremlin-spokesman-dmitry/story?id=46499669), spokesman Dmitry Petrov said the countries’ relationship was at the “lowest possible point” and “worse” than after World War II — but he said a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump could change that. “I think if two presidents meet each other, if they exchange views and if they decide that they want to reestablish a dialogue, then there will be chance for our volatile relations to get better,” Petrov said [during the interview](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-17-ambassador-nikki-haley-ash-carter/story?id=46512194). Putin said last week that he’d be open to meeting with Trump, floating the G20 Summit in July as a possible location. “We are ready for that discussion. It’s necessary for the other side to also show goodwill and readiness for constructive work,” the [Associated Press reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/putin-ready-to-meet-trump-in-finland-if-it-hosts-summit/2017/03/30/e94742b0-153d-11e7-bb16-269934184168%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.3c354b2a27bd) he said on March 30. Petrov spent much of his interview denying any Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, despite the U.S. intelligence communities’ repeated statements that Russia was behind the hacks. “Actually, this campaign, we’ve been saying from the very beginning, that it was nothing else but slander,” Petrov said Sunday. “And that’s why we’ll continue to suggest to everyone insisting that Russia was interfering in this or that way in — into domestic affairs of the United States, we will suggest them to [read Mr. Putin’s lips.](http://time.com/4718173/vladimir-putin-russia-donald-trump-election/)“ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4722615/donald-trump-russia-cold-war-putin-kremlin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4722615/donald-trump-russia-cold-war-putin-kremlin/"},"headline":"U.S.-Russia Relations Are 'Worse' Than During the Cold War, Kremlin Spokesman Says","datePublished":"2017-04-03T12:06:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:09:59.090Z","description":"Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Petrov says relations could improve if Presidents Trump and President Putin meet","url":"https://time.com/4722615/donald-trump-russia-cold-war-putin-kremlin/","keywords":["White House","russia","Vladimir Putin","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4722615/donald-trump-russia-cold-war-putin-kremlin/","name":"U.S.-Russia Relations Are 'Worse' Than During the Cold War, Kremlin Spokesman Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"U.N. 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