New U.S. Ambassador to Russia names priority areas

Newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said he will try to focus on areas where the two sides can cooperate.

Sullivan said he has a range of priorities: Cooperating on an arms-control strategy that makes sense for the two countries, addressing the rights of gays and lesbians, security in the Arctic, and sharing information to protect the U.S. and its allies from terrorist attacks.

"We expect the Russian government will take seriously the commitment to protecting the world from dangerous terrorist groups like ISIS (banned in Russia), al-Qaeda(banned in Russia), and Hezbollah (banned in the U.S.)," Bloomberg cited him as saying.