U.S. expresses willingness to cooperate with Russia
By Ali Mustafayev
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that the United States are willing to work with Russia and it is pointless to cut off the ties over their disagreements.
“We should have places we can work together... In places we have differences we’re going to have to continue to find ways to address those,” said Tillerson during press conference following the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov in Manila according to Reuters.
The meeting was the first since President Donald Trump signed into law the sanctions that Russia assessed as a full-scale trade war.
A range of issues were discussed during the meeting between the US Secretary of State and Russian Foreign Minister, including the reasons and details of Moscow’s decision regarding contra measures towards American diplomatic staff in Russia.
Lavrov earlier said he believed his U.S. colleagues were ready to continue dialogue with Moscow on complex issues despite tensions.
“We had a long conversation with Rex Tillerson,” said Lavrov. “He was primarily interested in, what he started the talk with, the details of the decisions which we had to make as a response to the law with the anti-Russian sanctions adopted in the US Congress. We provided these explanations.”
Both countries expressed their willingness to continue the dialogue on common issues, including Syria and Ukraine and hope for the future regulation of the current conflict.
The relationship between Russia and the USA have become strained after the information given by the US intelligence agencies about Russian interference to the US elections in 2016. The House of the Representatives and the US Congress legislated the sanctions law which was signed by President Donald Trump.
The Russian government as a response seized two American diplomatic properties in Russia and ordered the United States Embassy to reduce staff by September.
In late 2016, President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and seized two estates in response to Russia’s interference in the presidential election the month before.
Moscow did not respond at that time in a bid to achieve better relations with Washington under Trump.
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