Lavrov: Russia and U.S. preparing new contacts on cybersecurity

Russia and the United States are preparing new contacts on cybersecurity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"The Geneva summit [between Russian and U.S. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden] discussed the need in broad outline to establish a dialogue on cybersecurity after all," Russia’s top diplomat said in his speech before students and lecturers of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

"This is yet another issue, which Washington refused to discuss with us for several years, including an official statement by President Putin that was devoted to initiatives in the Russian-US relations on ensuring a transparent, trustworthy and fact-based dialogue on cybersecurity," Lavrov pointed out.

"Such contacts on this issue are now being prepared and that is why there are grounds to believe that we will slightly reduce tension on the international scene in some directions," Russia’s top diplomat said.

The efforts to establish a dialogue in particular spheres do not cancel the fact that the United States is seeking to deter Russia on the international scene, Lavrov said.

"This does not at all cancel the fact that the United States continues to pursue the deterrence of both Russia and China as a major task of its foreign policy along with its efforts to encourage measures that could facilitate this irritating impact on us," the Russian foreign minister added.