KRASNOYARSK. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States are predestined for cooperation "whatever the disposition of their leaders," Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev said.

"I, certainly, as private person and as a presidential candidate, have my own ideas about candidates participating in the U.S. primaries. But I think that another thing is still more important: the United States of America and Russia will still have to cooperate, whatever is the disposition of their leaders. It is inevitable," Medvedev said in Krasnoyarsk on Friday, responding to the questions of the local media.

"And if previously we would separate each other by the wall, even then there was cooperation - a difficult form of it, which sometimes would reach the level of either cold or hot standoff, but which nevertheless continued. So in today's global world, when our countries share the same set of values, this cooperation should continue," Medvedev said.

In Russian-U.S. relations "there is not only common ground, but also issues on which we have differed recently," he said.

"There is nothing fatal about it, but we should certainly take this into account," Medvedev said.

However, "there are many more subjects that require our joint efforts," he said.

"It is totally clear that neither the future Russian government, nor the U.S. administration will give up issues such as anti-terrorist cooperation, the fight against the drugs threat, responses to global economic challenges, financial crises, energy problems, or climate change. Whoever becomes a leader in the U.S. or in our country, these issue will remain under the closest scrutiny," the first Deputy Prime Minister said.

Asked who he would like to become the next U.S. leader, Medvedev said, "this is not so important, because the U.S. has nothing to do with the Russian election, and Russia has nothing to do with the U.S. election."

"We are sovereign countries and we can trust our voters with these choices," Medvedev said.