Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Despite many considered the recent meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov untimely, both sides described it as positive.

Trump called his talks with Russian top official as "very, very good," while Kremlin also highly assessed this meeting.

The talks were the highest-level public contact between Trump and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin since the Republicans took office on January 20.

It was expected that the latest U.S. missile attack against Syria would close the possibility of further dialogue between the two world powers, as both sides commented on their ties and described them as "at an all time lowest level".

However, the U.S. made their first step in an attempt to normalize the relations and find common ground by sending U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Moscow for talks with Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The recent meeting held between Russian top official and Trump revealed the desire of both sides to have better relations and cooperate on international stage.

The talks mentioned Syrian issue, the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, the situation in Afghanistan, and also the fulfillment of the Minsk accords on the political settlement in east Ukraine.

Although, discussions were "positive", the U.S. still has to form its administration completely and clear up its position and political course with regards to Russian Federation.

Nevertheless, this meeting gives hope that in future relations can be normalized. It is not a secret, the reasons for such low level of relations lies in actions of the previous administration which did “everything possible to undermine the basis of our relations so now we have to start from a very low level."

Even, a bilateral commission that served as a cornerstone for U.S. President Barack Obama's "reset" policy with Moscow, facilitating cooperation on issues such as arms reductions and counterterrorism, has suspended its work following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea territory.

The U.S.–Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission was created as a way to improve communication and cooperation between the governments of Russia and the United States. Since the rapid deterioration of relations between Russia and the United States since 2012, the commission has largely curtailed its activities and is essentially defunct.

The resumption of activities of this commission has not been discussed at the talks, but Russia leaves the question on the formats for the development of bilateral relations to the discretion of President Trump and his team, and is ready to move as much as it is convenient for the new administration of the White House.

"It is known that the Presidential Commission was a useful tool, but given that now U.S. has the new administration, we leave it at the discretion of Donald Trump and his staff to decide on the most convenient ways to develop relations with the Russian Federation. At a meeting yesterday at the White House, Donald Trump confirmed his mindset - he then wrote it on Twitter - to normalize relations," Lavrov told reporters in Alaska on May 12, Interfax reported.

Lavrov also said that during the visit, the dispatch of U.S. observers to de-escalation zones in Syria was not discussed.

"We did not discuss this, we said that we would welcome any U.S. contribution to the implementation of this concept, especially since it was originally Donald Trump who spoke about the creation of safe zones where the population can breathe freely," Lavrov said.

Currently, talks are underway with potential participants in this process, according to minister.

He recalled that the memorandum, which was signed in Astana, stipulates that “to ensure the functioning of these zones, observers from third countries may be attracted, of course, in agreement with all interested parties, and this should be, first of all, acceptable for the Syrian government.”

In the United States, Trump's meeting with Lavrov may only strengthen the attention of Congress to the administration's attitude toward Russia, increase the popularity of the idea in both parties that the investigation of Russia's actions should be transferred to the control of an independent prosecutor, and also activate calls for additional sanctions, according to some experts.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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