US cannot solve West Asia issues without Russia: Primakov

Moscow, Jan 14 (UNI) Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov today said the United States cannot solve the issues relating to West Asia without Russia's participation.

''The US should be increasingly aware that it simply cannot settle problems exclusively with NATO's assistance and without Russia,'' Mr Primakov said in an interview with the Russian state-controlled Vesti Nedeli television programme.

''Take the West Asia and the West Asia settlement as an example.

We have contacts with Syria no one else, including the US, has. We have ties with Iran and with Hezbollah, which the US does not has,'' he said.

In this setting, Russia can and hopefully will do a great deal, the former prime minister said, adding that ''good relations'' with the US were ''very important for Russia''.

UNI