Russia will continue assisting those CIS member states which faced most hardships during the crisis RF FM Sergey Lavrov said Monday, in an interview with "Itogi" journal. "In the meantime, we'll focus on CIS states as our closest neighbors," the Russian diplomat added.

"We have already allocated considerable sums to Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia," Lavrov noted. "We are planning to work towards realization of those goals, and have allocated USD 7.5 billion to EurAsEc anti-crisis fund which possess a total sum of USD 10 million."

As regards the crisis impact on Russia-West and Russia-US relations, it may really be positive in terms of pushing US and West to a more constructive platform in their relations with Russia," the Minister is convinced. Such cooperation not only contributes to elaborating a positive agenda but also helps build mutual trust, skills and culture required for dialogue and mutual cooperation."

"No wonder that things have taken such turn. Common sense shows that artificially politicized issue are pushed to the background in times of crisis, and all parties recognize common interests," Russian FM confirmed.