Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday a "reset" in the relations between Washington and Moscow is needed, following offers from Western leaders that sanctions may be softened or lifted if Russia starts to work out peace with Ukraine.

In his interview with Russian Channel Five, Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is absolutely interested in normalizing relations with Washington, but claimed it was not Russia who caused the rift.

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The foreign minister has condemned the West at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday for starting the Ukraine crisis in pursuit of self-serving interests.

Lavrov has also lashed out on U.S. and its NATO allies, criticizing their use of unilateral force under the pretext of championing human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

He also denounced the United States for excluding President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally, from its airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria.

Western countries had imposed sanctions against Russia for allegedly supporting separatist rebels in east Ukraine and have tightened sanctions for annexing Crimea in March.

Russia, in response, banned all food imports from the United States and Europe.

The problem, he said, isthat Russia seeks to mend relations with the West. He added that it is willing to repeat the "reset 2.0" the term initially used by the Obama administration to describe an early attempt to mend Russia-U.S. relations.

Shortly after President Obama took office in 2009, he sought to improve relations by sending then Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to present Moscow with a button labelled "reset." Due to a translation error, however, the button in Russian read "overload" instead of the intended "reset."

The Russia-Ukraine crisis has brought the relations between Moscow and Washington to their lowest point since the Cold War ended.

In his speech at the beginning of the U.N. General Assembly, President Obama offered to lift off sanctions against Russia if it seeks for diplomatic and peaceful policies towards Ukraine.

TagsU.S. President Barack Obama, Sergei Lavrov, government, Russia-United States Relations