MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russia has not lost the desire to improve its relations with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on Sunday.

"Everything can be done if there is a desire. We have never lost this desire," Putin told Pavel Zarubin, a journalist of Russia's state TV and radio company VGTRK, while answering a question about the prospects for improving Russia-U.S. relations.

Putin said Russia is ready to build relations with other countries, provided that such efforts do not compromise Russian interests.

"If we establish relations with someone, we will do so only based on the interests of the Russian state," he said. ■