The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Moscow with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on December 15. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also would be at meeting Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on December 14.
The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Moscow with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on December 15. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also would be at meeting Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on December 14.
As it was reported the U.S. State Department on December 11 had announced that Kerry would meet Putin in Moscow.
«Kerry’s messages reflect the contradictory roles Moscow has played in its relations with Washington. One goal is to tell Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the United States and its allies will maintain punishing sanctions against Russia until it fully implements an agreement negotiated in the Belarusan capital in February to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine. The agreement calls for a cease-fire, a Russian troop withdrawal and the return to Kiev of full control over its eastern border. Even as the deal’s Dec. 31 deadline approaches, the Obama administration says Russia is violating it by continuing to arm, train and equip pro-Moscow rebels. Kerry’s other, more immediate and pressing goal is to enlist Russian support in pushing a plan to end the conflict that has raged in Syria since 2011. He hopes to keep the momentum going with talks on Friday in New York, shooting for full negotiations to begin in January between the government and its opponents. And he wants Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to pressure Assad to send a representative», - The Washington Post writes.
Bloomberg notices: «The Kremlin dismissed talk of compromise, with demands by the U.S. and its allies for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian and Iranian ally, at the center of the deadlock over a political settlement aimed at ending the civil war in the Middle Eastern country. “Work is going on, contacts are going on, but so far we can’t really say that positions are converging,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on a conference call Monday. Russia is disappointed by “ridiculous” White House comments ahead of Kerry’s visit that it’s internationally isolated, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said in a statement Monday. It expects business-like discussions with Kerry and is ready for “constructive cooperation,” though that’s possible only on the basis of “equality and mutual respect”.»
