Russia and US want to work together

Moscow and Washington would like to work together, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated after a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"We have a desire to work together with the help of our diplomatic offices and servicemen. I think that the more regularly these issues are discussed at the level of professionals, the easier we can solve the difficult problems,’’ RIA Novosti cites him.

Lavrov also said that both countries have great hopes for the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, which is to take place tomorrow.

"John Kerry and I have great expectations for tomorrow's meeting. I hope we will be able to hold talks openly, trying to move forward,’’ he said.

The Russian minister added that US officials believe that the coalition against the Islamic State terrorist organization can act without the approval of the UN Security Council, but Moscow believes that such actions violate international law.

"We believe that these actions should be based on the solid foundation of the UN Charter with the consent of the states, as well as with the support of the Security Council. The United States believes that their coalition doesn’t need this approval from the UN Security Council. In our opinion, this would be a violation of international law," he explained.

The meeting between Lavrov and Kerry was held at the New York Palace. It was assumed the discussion of the crisis in Syria and the situation in Ukraine would be on the agenda.

Before the meeting, Lavrov recalled that the Russian side intends to establish a coordination center in Baghdad, which is to coordinate actions in order to fight IS, which will be carried out by the Russian Federation, Syria, Iran and Iraq. "We are coordinating actions with our partners in respect of the fight against IS,’’ RIA Novosti cites him as saying.

Kerry, in his turn, expressed some skepticism about the degree of coordination of efforts in the context of the fight against Islamic State. "All efforts should be coordinated, but this isn’t happening now," John Kerry said.