MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) - U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza thinks it wrong for officials to say that relations between Moscow and Washington may dwindle to naught after the presidential elections in the United States.

"I cannot understand how any official could make such a statement. I mean it is a ridiculous statement. The issue at stake here has nothing to do with partisanship or ideology. These are enduring national interests," he said to Interfax commenting on a corresponding statement by a Russian Foreign Ministry source.

A few days ago the ministry source said to the press: "We are ready for any development of the situation. We can afford to have no relations with certain partners, if they want to."

This was the source's comment on recent statements by presidential candidate John McCain, who said that a tougher position should be taken with regard to Russia; in particular it should be expelled from the G8.

"The behavior of our U.S. partners is a test of how strong" Russian-U.S. relations are, the source said.

"Everything is good until one tells us how to act, who to be friends with, who to sleep with and whom to kick out. Finally, they are not godfathers of our children, and there are a lot of (nations) to communicate with, not only they," the source said.

In the interview with Interfax Bryza said that relations with Russia will remain important for any U.S. administration irrespective of the outcome of presidential elections, in particular for the settlement of regional conflicts.

He said he could not undertake any commitment but could make a forecast.

Not party relations but continuing national interests are at stake in this case, Bryza said. U.S. national interests in Abkhazia boil down to the prevention of a war in the region the same as the rest of the Caucasus, he said.

American oligarchs have no intention of buying beaches in Abkhazia, he said. The United States has no intention of transforming Abkhazia into a construction site for the Olympic Games, he said. Its interest is that Georgia would keep its territorial integrity and the Caucasian region as a whole would develop, he said.

Bryza said that the U.S. agenda includes such issues as resistance to terrorism, the settlement of regional conflicts and the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. has security interests with regard to oil pipelines and the advancement of democracy in the region and it will be unable to reach any of these objectives without promoting the other, he said.