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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met with his U.S. counterpart on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Manila and for the first time since the U.S. Congress imposed additional sanctions on Russia and curbed the power of the U.S. president Donald Trump to unilaterally remove or suspend sanctions against Russia. Despite the newly imposed sanctions, which saw Russia retaliating by expelling 755 US diplomats from the country and seized two diplomatic compounds belonging to the United States, Russian foreign minister Lavrov said that he believed that U.S. colleagues were ready to continue dialogue with Moscow on sensitive and complex issues such as Syria.
According to Lavrov, the US secretary was primarily interested in the details of the Russian decisions that came in response to the action by U.S. Congress. After the meeting, the Russian foreign ministry issued a formal statement that reads,
“On August 6, a separate meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Robert Tillerson took place on the sidelines of ASEAN ministerial events in Manila.
The situation in Russian-American relations was considered. Lavrov pointed out that the US law on sanctions against Russia became the next link in the chain of unfriendly and dangerous for international stability steps, struck a powerful blow to the prospects for bilateral cooperation. Naturally, such actions, including the illegal retention of our diplomatic property since December last year, could not remain unanswered. So it will be in the future. At the same time, we are ready to normalize the dialogue if Washington refuses the confrontational line.
The parties discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula in the light of the adoption on August 5 of this year. UN Security Council Resolution No. 2371. At the same time, Lavrov pointed to the inadmissibility of escalating tension, which American military preparations are conducting in the region of the Korean peninsula.
Discussed were further steps to resolve the Syrian conflict, including the development of the Russian-American-Jordanian memorandum on the creation of a de-escalation zone in south-western Syria, agreed in July. Lavrov stressed the need for strict observance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country, as well as the provisions of the resolutions of the UN Security Council, which laid the foundation for the advancement of the political process.
Other topical issues on the international agenda were touched upon, including the internal conflict in Ukraine.”
It is important to note that despite the bilateral tensions, Russia has opted for a more restrained approach to the United States and the current administration. The Russia’s recent retaliation was in response to the Former President Barrack Obama’s action before his tenure ended, where he expelled 35 Russia diplomats and seized two diplomatic compounds belonging to Moscow.
