After a meeting in the Kremlin, Lavrov and Tillerson told about results of negotiations
MOSCOW, 12 APR — RIA Novosti. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson at a joint press conference summed up the results of negotiations in Moscow.
Among the main topics of discussion included the Syria, Ukraine, North Korea and bilateral issues.
U.S. Secretary of state arrived in Moscow yesterday. Before the visit to Russia, Tillerson made a tough statement on Syria, urging Moscow to “choose” between the partnership with the United States to support Bashar al-Assad.
Find “the irritants in the relationship”
“The negotiations were thorough and open, swept the whole range of issues that are key to our bilateral relations, interaction in international Affairs,” Lavrov said at a press conference after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
“We reaffirmed our shared commitment to an uncompromising struggle against international terrorism,” he said, noting that this topic several times on the phone discussing the leaders of Russia and the United States.
Thus, according to the Minister, Moscow sees attempts to prevent cooperation of Russia and the United States to escalate the confrontation.
“I think that in the US, in Russia there are enough sensible people who will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, and which can still be guided by indigenous, non-engaged the interests of our peoples, our countries and the entire international community,” Lavrov added.
According to him, “history has proven, when Moscow and Washington cooperate, benefit not only our peoples, but also the whole world.”
The Russian foreign Minister said that Moscow and Washington will appoint a special representative, to without emotion to identify “irritants in the relationship.”
The incident in Idlib
Lavrov said that he discussed with Tillerson incident himachali in Idlib and saw the United States ‘ readiness to support an international investigation into these events.
“In the context of the fight against terrorism we discussed the situation in Syria and touched upon the incident which occurred after April 4 in Syria near Idlib had used chemicals, and the ensuing missile attack United States military airfield on 7 April,” he said after talks with U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson, who is on visit in Moscow.
“I want to emphasize our absolute conviction that if our colleagues in the UN in the Hague will wriggle out of this investigation, it will mean that they do not want to establish the truth. And we will insist on it”, — he added.
According to Lavrov, Moscow saw “no evidence… the characteristics common to say that there was any poisonous substance”.
The Minister also added that Russia considers counterproductive making in the UN security Council resolution on Syria.
Tillerson, in turn, said that the impact of us forces in Idlib was justified, arguing that “the facts that we (the USA — ed.) are available”.
The Fate Of The Assad
Touched the hand, and the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Tillerson expressed confidence that Assad’s departure from his post must pass in an orderly manner.
“Our position is that the Assad regime comes to an end, they may blame themselves, their behavior, and a war that continues for several years,” he said.
He noted that “Russia is the closest ally and could help Assad to understand this reality”.
Lavrov, in turn, said that Russia has no stakes in Syria by a specific person, including Assad
According to him, the Syrians need to agree about their future themselves.
“It must be an inclusive inter-Syrian dialogue. And destiny of Syria should, as recorded in the resolutions of the UN security Council, to define the Syrians themselves without any exceptions”, — concluded Lavrov.
The low level of trust
Tillerson called “low” current level of trust between Russia and the United States. Thus, according to him, Moscow and Washington should do everything possible to halt the degradation of relations and to restore confidence.
According to him, “the two major nuclear powers can not be in such a state of Affairs”
“We also talked about approaches on how we can improve our lines of communication,” she added. He noted that “the parties shared their positions on how we can move forward today.”
“We understand that the improvement of relations between our countries will need to resolve those questions on which our opinion is divided,” said Tillerson.
Ukraine, Korea and cybersecurity
In addition, the foreign Ministers discussed Ukraine, Korea and cybersecurity.
According to Lavrov, Moscow and Washington advocates for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements and full implementation of UN security Council resolutions on the Korean Peninsula.
“Russia and the United States discussed how to find ways to get out of the spiral of confrontation on the Korean Peninsula and to create conditions for the resumption of negotiations,” — said Lavrov.
The parties also briefly touched on cybersecurity issues, having agreed to continue the dialogue on this topic.