Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a press conference in the Russian embassy in Washington DC following his meeting with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday, May 10.
Sergei Lavrov started the presser off by saying that he had discussed bilateral cooperation between the US and Russia with US President Trump and State Secretary Tillerson. He said that Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have also been discussed.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are looking for tangible results of Wednesday’s talks.
“In the recent telephone conversation the presidents confirmed that they’re going to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg at the beginning of July,” Lavrov stated. “They are going to see each other in July.”
Syria Safe Zones
He said that the US and Russian sides agreed that international issues should be solved jointly. The Syrian settlement and the Russia-sponsored plan to create Syrian safe zones were discussed, he said. The US and Russia agreed to continue working in the framework of Astana and Geneva peace talks between Damascus and the armed groups.
Russia and the US reached a conceptual agreement on geographical aspects of the de-escalations zones in Syria, Lavrov said.
“Today we have discussed the specific ways to jointly implement these agreements,” Lavrov stated, referring to the safe zones in Syria. “We hope that the frameworks within which this process is evolving will be acceptable to all parties.”
Lavrov added, “We certainly welcome US cooperation on the matter and hope that it will help move forward political settlement in Syria.”
“We agree with Trump that the most important thing to do in Syria is to fight against terrorism,” he said.
When asked if Russia has an “exit strategy,” Lavrov said that there’s no such thing and all sides must comply with their obligations.
Representatives of the countries-guarantors of the truce in Syria (Russia, Iran, Turkey) signed on May 4 a memorandum on the creation of four zones of de-escalation in Syria, which include the province of Idlib and seven other regions. According to the memorandum, any clashes between the government forces and opposition armed groups must stop within the zones.
The memorandum on these de-escalation zones took effect on May 6.
Bilateral Ties, Sanctions
Lavrov said that both Moscow and Washington want to remove all barriers for effective cooperation.
When asked if US sanctions against Russia were discussed, Lavrov said that Russia doesn’t discuss such issues with foreign partners.
However, he said that Russian diplomatic property’s seizure in the US as part of the last sanctions imposed on Russia by the former US administration has been discussed. Lavrov said that Obama’s decision was “illegitimate”
Late December, 2016, Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia over alleged interference in the November election. The Obama administration ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, the closure of two Russian diplomatic compounds and new sanctions against six Russian individuals and five entities, including the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and the Federal Security Service (FSB).
The Kremlin responded to US sanctions imposed on Thursday by declaring that they “will not resort to irresponsible ‘kitchen diplomacy,’” and reiterated their hopes to work toward a better relationship with the US when President-elect Trump takes office.
Dialogue With Trump vs Dialogue With Obama
He said that the Russia-US dialogue stopped being “ideologized” after this approach had been chosen by the Barack Obama administration. He said that the Trump administration is set to make deals with its partners.
He said that Trump’s administration is business-like and willing to negotiate certain issues.
Alleged Russian Role in US Election
Lavrov said that it is “embarrassing” for the US to say Russia is influencing its political system, adding that the United States is a “great” country. When asked if Trump discussed the issue of alleged Russian interference in the November 2016 election, Lavrov said that such a “mayhem” has not been part of the discussion as the sides focused on “concrete” issues.
“There’s no single fact proving the claims,” he said. “We know Trump’s position and the positions of those who claim the opposite,” Lavrov said commenting on claims of alleged Russian influence on the US election process.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied allegations of interfering in the US election, and have characterized the charges as an absurd attempt to distract the US public from domestic concerns.
Source: Sputnik
