Russia and US discuss dialogue, Syria, counter-terrorism cooperation

Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama agreed to expand bilateral cooperation by renewing regular meetings of Russian prime minister and US vice president, similar to the Chernomyrdin-Gore talks in the 1990s. The talks will focus on diversification of trade and investments. Russian foreign and defense ministers and US secretaries of state and defense will have 2+2 format of meetings to discuss strategic stability, international security and threats, RIA Novosti reports.

Moscow will host a Russian-US summit on September 3-4, two days prior to the G20 summit of Saint-Petersburg.

The presidents decided to reduce nuclear risks by exchanging information about cyber threats. They will establish a direct line for the issue. A bilateral working group will be formed to prevent threats in the field of information technologies.

Putin and Obama will activate the Syrian peace process and make new efforts to stop violence. The Geneva talks will be one of the tools to encourage negotiations. Obama promised to order the administration to organize the Geneva-2 meeting. He noted that both the US and Russia were interested in ending violence and securing chemical weapons in Syria.

The presidents will cooperate in fighting terrorism, especially in the light of the Olympic Games. Obama thanked Putin for helping investigate the Boston Marathon blast.