Lavrov: Russia is preparing for a meeting between Putin and Trump
Moscow is preparing a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Sergey Lavrov, stated this in an interview with TV channel “Mir”.
"You see, both we and the Americans need the meeting, as I understand it, not in order to manufacture an external effect on somebody and say: "Well, what a sensation, they talked for so long, and finally it was held," explained the foreign minister.
He noted that due to the influence of Russia and the United States on international stability and security, "concrete results will, of course, be expected from this meeting…and for this to happen, it needs to be well prepared," the Foreign Minister added. "And we are doing so now."
Speaking about Trump's position, Lavrov noted that the U.S. president is committed to normalizing relations "in the common interest." Despite the fact that "statements of diametrically opposite content have sounded from the lips of various representatives of the [Trump] administration", Moscow is oriented only toward the "acting person". Lavrov recalled that Trump gave high marks to the visit of State Department head Rex Tillerson to Moscow, as well as a recent telephone conversation with Putin.
The telephone conversation Putin and Trump was held on May 2. The leaders of the two countries discussed bilateral relations in the context of international issues; the main topics were the situation in Syria and a future meeting. Following the meeting, Lavrov said that the "next opportunity" for the meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States was the G20 summit in Hamburg in July.
Tillerson, commenting on the conversation between Putin and Trump, stated that it was "very, very constructive," productive and allowed the heads of state to exchange views on many issues. At the same time, the Wall Street Journal reported with reference to the source that the telephone conversation lasted about 30 minutes and was initiated by Putin. According to the source of the publication, during the conversation no breakthrough occurred, and the Trump administration is not sure that Moscow is serious about resolving the Syrian conflict.