Russian FM outlines key goal for talks with US

Moscow wants to hear what Washington has to say on settling the Ukraine crisis, Sergey Lavrov has said

A Russian team will hold talks with the US in Saudi Arabia primarily in order to find out what is being proposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump to settle the Ukraine conflict, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Lavrov and Yury Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, will head to Riyadh to meet with Trump officials to prepare the ground for an upcoming meeting of the two leaders. According to Peskov, the talks will also be devoted to the restoration of bilateral relations.

The development came after Putin and Trump held a 90-minute phone call last week which revolved around settling the Ukraine conflict.

Asked about his expectations for the talks, Lavrov said that “when we go to negotiations on the proposal of our partners, first of all, we always want to hear them out.” He also noted that Trump and Putin agreed to leave behind “an absolutely abnormal period” in relations between the countries, which have barely communicated over the past three years.

“The presidents agreed that it is necessary to resume dialogue on all issues that can be resolved one way or another with the participation of Russia and the US… Therefore, we will listen to our American counterparts and, of course, we will be ready to respond. Then we will report to our leaders who will take decisions on future steps,” the minister said.

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