"Improvement in Russia-U.S. relations to be beneficial for whole world"

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at the meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit expressed the opinion that an improvement in bilateral relations would be beneficial not only for Moscow and Washington, according to White House statement issued following the meeting.

"Both presidents have said that an improvement in bilateral relations would be beneficial not only for Russia and the US, but for the rest of the world as well," TASS cited the statement as saying.

The two heads of state also agreed to continue talks on arms control with Trump telling Putin that China needs to be included in the discussions on the issue.

The meeting of the presidents lasted 80 minutes.

First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, stressed that everything will depend on whether Trump maintains a friendly stance upon his return to Washington. "At the meeting, he says one thing, and when he comes back, he comes under heavy pressure from opponents, first of all, Republicans, which makes Trump to change his position. Let's hope that this time Trump will show firmness, especially since new elections are coming, and it is necessary to work out the foreign policy agenda within the framework of the campaign - and it is difficult to succeed in it without good relations with Russia," he said in the first place.

"In any case, I think many countries will heave a sigh of relief after the Russia-U.S. relations become more stable. Of course, there is reason to believe that there can be any progress on the most acute moments - Syria, Iran, the Korean Peninsula, Ukraine and so on," Vladimir Dzhabarov added.

The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, noted that Russian-American relations have little space for maneuvers right now. "Most experts say that little can be expected at this stage of Russian-American relations in terms of resolving key contradictions. There is an intensive dialogue on the Middle East, there is U.S. interest in influencing Russia's position due to the urgency of the Iranian problem for America. There is an active negotiation platform on Syria - and such statements by the parties, like today’s one, leave the door open for possible agreements," he said above all.

"But even on this platform, with an interest from the U.S., the parameters of a compromise are not very clear. Therefore, it seems to me that the best we can count on is just  stopping the escalation," Mikhail Remizov stressed.

Also, one should not expect China to be involved in international agreements such as the INF Treaty and START. "If desired, Moscow and Washington could keep a limited version of the INF Treaty or sign a new one, with restrictions applying only to Europe. Then, perhaps, China would have an incentive to negotiate. As for the START, the chances of its preservation are higher, because it cannot be said that the New START severely limits Russia and the United States in significant military programs," the President of the National Strategy Institute pointed out.