MOSCOW, May 8 (UPI) -- Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary, said he expects the next U.S. president to help "cure" relations between the two countries.

Speaking to NBC News in an interview, Peskov said Moscow would not "put our nose in your business" but added, "We do want to believe that whoever is elected as a new American president will [work] for a cure in our bilateral relations. We will respect your choice, and we will welcome any slightest sympathy toward our bilateral relations."


With Russian involvement in Ukraine and Crimea, and subsequent economic sanctions by Western countries against Russia, relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated in the past two years.

Peskov mentioned the global war on terrorism was an example of an issue a single country cannot solve on its own.

"We are open and will continue to be open, but you cannot tango alone," Peskov said. "If Washington doesn't want to do that, we are patient enough that this readiness will appear somewhere in the depths of Washington."

Earlier in the week, Peskov was critical of suggestions that an attack on the White house computer system in 2014, which yielded unclassified information, was caused by Russian hackers. While the White House did not specifically blame Russia for the breach, CNN reported that senior officials briefed on the matter said investigators are confident the attack originated in Russia.

"In regard to CNN's sources, I don't know who their sources are. We know that blaming everything on Russia has already turned into some sort of sport. But what's most important is that they aren't looking for any submarines in the Potomac River like has been seen in other countries," Peskov told the Russian news agency RT on Wednesday.