American President Donald Trump said today that a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the White House was "very, very good." This was the first meeting with a representative of the Russian state top at the time when relations between two countries are at the lowest point. It is rare that the American president in the Oval Office receives a foreign minister or an official who is not a president of a state or a government.
"I think we will do good things for Syria, things are moving, and that's good," Trump said after the meeting.
Donald Trump urged Russia on Wednesday to "hold down" the Syrian regime and Iran and start cooperating to stop the war in that country, in the tense atmosphere that governs the two magnates. Lavrov came to Washington to seek the support from the US, regarding Russian plan to calm the conflict in Syria.
After a "very, very good meeting" in the Oval Office, as Trump said, the latter called on the guest to do everything in order for Moscow to "restrain" its allies.
Ready for cooperation
After meeting with Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Lavrov told the reporters that Russia is ready to cooperate (regarding the issue of the de-escalation zone) and that they talked about the concrete steps they both can take.
He also pointed out "similarities in the attitude of the participants in the process of solving the situation in Syria."
Tillerson and Lavrov talked about how important it is to defeat the Islamic state, to work to reduce the violence in Syria and to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches hundreds of thousands of civilians in the country, according to the CNN.
The two ministers also talked about Ukraine, a clash of intensifying tension in their relations, and Tillerson pointed out "the necessity of full implementation of the Minsk agreement." "Russia's sanctions will remain in force until Moscow changes the decisions for which sanctions were imposed on it," CNN reiterated, pointing to the conflict in Ukraine and on the annexation of Crimea.
False accusations
At the press conference after the meeting, Lavrov said that Trump had assumed "pragmatic" relations with Russia that would be "useful" for both countries. Allegations of Russian interference in US internal politics are "fabrication," Lavrov said after talks with the US president.
"As far as debates and bureaucrats are concerned with our relationship and the fabrication of managing internal politics of the United States, of course, we keep track of that extremely unusual context in which our relations are developing," Lavrov said in Washington.
