Russia Says Pentagon Should Not Seek to Build Ties from Position of Strength

"We are ready to resume cooperation with the Pentagon, but attempts to build a dialogue with Russia from a position of strength would be futile," the Tass news agency quoted Shoigu as saying.

"We expect clarification on the position of the Pentagon."

In similar remarks, the Kremlin said on Thursday political turbulence in the United States was delaying the resumption of better relations between Washington and Moscow, which are needed to tackle global problems.

"We hope that sooner or later the process will start to resume a normal business relationship with Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We're losing time in terms of solving global problems. Because there are lots of problems which are of a sort that neither the United States nor Russia can solve them effectively alone."

Peskov was responding to a question about a possible US probe into the resignation of President Donald Trump's national security adviser - the latest in a series of White House missteps and controversies.

He said he was unaware of the calls for an inquiry and it was an internal matter for the United States.