Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday that in a broad sense, "our relations with the United States" were "aimed at cooperation," RIA Novosti reported.

However, she asserted in remarks to Russian lawmakers that "there are very many political forces in the West, including in the United States," that wanted to "return us to the era of the Cold War."

At the same time Zakharova stressed that Moscow's position over cooperation with Washington comes "not from a certain weakness or inability to conduct aggressive policy, but from the understanding that ... there is a part of political establishment which will make everything in order to pursue a similar policy based on their interests. It is necessary to be guided by long-term interests."

Zakharova was speaking about tension between Russia and the United States over allegations of interference by media outlets in politics.

A Russian bill enabling the government to designate any foreign media outlet a "foreign agent" sailed through parliament and was signed by Putin on November 25.