Negotiations have been held in Moscow between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry. It was expected that the central topic of the meeting will be the situation in Syria and the prospects for joint efforts to combat international terrorism.
"Determining the areas for collaboration work with the US, we, as before, are guided by our own interests, including the strengthening of our own and international security. We hope to get the necessary explanations from US Secretary of State during the talks in Moscow," RIA Novosti cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.
Washington, in its turn, reported that the Secretary of State once again will try to persuade Russia to join the international coalition led by the United States. "He’s going with the expectation that there are no preconditions to having this meeting or to having these discussions," US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said.
At the same time, the US side recognizes the importance of Russia for the resolution of the Syrian crisis. "The Syrian diplomatic progress so far would not have been possible without the constructive participation of the Russians," White House spokesman Josh Ernest said.
The talks in the Foreign Ministry mansion began with a delay of fifteen minutes. The Russian minister shook hands with US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland.
At the beginning of the meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he is ready to discuss any issues of bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington at the talks with John Kerry.
"We still have questions on this path which need to be resolved in the context of further work in the International Syria Support Group," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The US Secretary of State, in his turn, said he expects to make progress on a number of issues at the negotiations with the Russian Foreign Minister.
"Even when there have been differences between us we were able to work effectively on specific issues. Russia has made a significant contribution to the achievement of an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program," the US Secretary of State noted.
"Of course, Russia and the United States agree that Daesh is our common threat, a threat for all countries and nations, and negotiations cannot be held, they are the terrorists who attack our culture and dignity, and they leave us no choice but to fight," the US diplomat said.
"And, of course, we would like to continue the conversation, initiated by our Presidents about the US assistance in resolving the Ukrainian crisis," Lavrov added.
A member of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs, a representative of the executive body of state power of the Ryazan Region, Igor Morozov, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the Americans need a certain progress in the Middle East peace process on the Syrian track due to the election campaign.
"And now the US insisted on the meeting between Kerry, Lavrov and Putin only to persuade the Russian delegation to agree on the next meeting of the Vienna format in New York. But Kerry will have to agree with Sergei Lavrov on our list of terrorist organizations and a list of the opposition organizations which represent a real force in Syria and has real military and civilian capabilities," Igor Morozov stressed.
The deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador, Andrey Baklanov, told Vestnik Kavkaza that our relations with the US are developing unevenly.
"But the specifics of the visit, in my opinion, are that there are some opportunities to transfer our relations from the acute stage to the stage of stabilization. There are two factors: the first is the serious strengthening of Russia's role in international and regional affairs. And the second is the aggravation of the general international situation, which is forcing the United States to look at the course of events realistically. I think Kerry came here to Moscow to really understand our logic," the diplomat said.
Talking about what benefits there may be from today's meeting for Russia, the deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association said that "we can somehow strengthen our cooperation in order to prevent Afghanistan from becoming an even more complex problem area. Secondly, I think it is necessary to broaden mutual understanding on the search for compromises in Syria," the Ambassador noted.
"I think that the current negotiations can secure an emerging understanding of the approaches of the US and Russian sides on the Syrian settlement," Andrey Baklanov concluded.
