WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on a rare blitz visit to the United States discussed a variety of bilateral and global issues with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with no visible breakthroughs but a distinct desire to work on capping negative trends and building on the positive ones.
Lavrov's trip comes on the heels of the Normandy format meeting in Paris, a long-awaited step towards resolving Ukrainian crisis and mending ties between Russia and the West, against the backdrop of burgeoning debates on the future of the strategic arms control, unresolved conflicts in Syria, Libya, Venezuela and North Korea where both countries publicly trade barbs, but acknowledge the role for each other.
Washington on the day of Lavrov's visit is preoccupied with impeachment proceedings against Trump and deliberations over fresh penalties against Russia and its business partners. It prompted minister's joke "Any day you choose now for coming to the United States will coincide with either impeachment or sanctions."
He flew directly from Paris, spent the rest of the night at the Russian Embassy and was hosted at the State Department and the White House. Lavrov's meeting with Trump was closed for media, but he went to great lengths to satisfy reporters'' curiosity with two 45 minutes long press conferences - one with Pompeo, and the solo one at the Embassy.
Both times the rooms were packed with Russian and international reporters inquiring about matters varying from Ukraine to conflicts in the middle East, from strategic stability to alleged meddling in the US elections. At the press availability with Pompeo an atmosphere of intense discussions was somewhat alleviated by a joyful holiday spirit of Christmas trees and decorations. Lavrov concluded his visit with a closed-door meeting with political scientists at the Center for National Interest.
With the last remaining arms control regime between the world's two greatest nuclear powers expiring in a little over a year, issues of global strategic stability were at the core of Lavrov's negotiations in Washington.
He reiterated that Russia was ready both to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and to work with the US on any possible ways to upgrade the framework.
"We have offered Washington to consider any options to extend the agreement," Lavrov told journalists after the meeting with Trump.
Trump and Pompeo signaled that instead of just prolonging New START they would favor negotiating arms control regime that would include China, possibly, UK and France, not just the US and Russia.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists in Washington that the work of communication channels between Russia and the United States on issues of strategic stability and security was stalled and there had been no progress since July. Lavrov publicly called on the US to at least present its proposals in a formal way.
New START is the last remaining arms control treaty in force between Russia and the United States. Signed in 2010, it limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 for each side. The pact expires in February 2021.
Lavrov also once again brought up the proposal to refrain from deploying intermediate and shorter range nuclear missiles if the US reciprocates despite having abandoned the INF treaty.
Pompeo said that Trump had specifically asked him to work on business-to-business relations with Russia and promised a significant announcement in the near future. He didn't elaborate, but Lavrov, when asked, suggested that his US counterpart was referring to plans to establish a bilateral consultative business council.
He hailed the Russian-US trade rebounding from $20 billion lows of 2014. This year it is expected to grow by one-third to $27 billion, Lavrov said. Trump, as per the White House statement, in a meeting with Russia's minister expressed hope that the improved relations between the two countries would further boost bilateral trade.
Lavrov's visit comes shortly after the Congress passed the NDAA legislation with sanction provisions that target companies involved in Russian gas transportation projects.
The minister responded that Russia was accustomed to US attacks and knows how to respond. He accused the Congress of being "literally overwhelmed with a desire to do everything to destroy our relationship." Lavrov assured that a fresh batch of sanctions would stop neither the Nord Stream-2, nor the TurkSTream � two new pipelines to export Russian gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine.
A Russian Foreign Ministry official told reporters on Monday the United States had used sanctions against Russia 77 times since 2011. It has happened 37 times under Trump, who is accused by his political opponents of benefiting from alleged Russia's interference into 2016 US elections, a claim Moscow flatly denies. Over 300 Russian individuals and almost 500 companies are subject to various US penalties. Russia as a whole is designated as a US adversary and major threat to the US geopolitical dominance.
When asked at the joint press conference with Lavrov, Pompeo described anti-Russian sanctions as "appropriate."
Lavrov confirmed an invitation to Trump to visit Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations on May 9, 2020. He told reporters that the US president was considering going there.
Trump said via Twitter that he had had "a very good meeting" with Lavrov and was looking forward to continuing the dialogue in the near future.
Lavrov also invited Pompeo to come to Russia "whenever it is convenient for him."
Minister's trip to Washington comes at the invitation of the state secretary, who visited Sochi last May and held a meeting there with Putin. Trump hosted the Russian foreign minister at the White House during his previous US visit in May 2017. In September 2018, they had a brief talk on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Putin has met Trump six times, including one full-fledged summit in Helsinki in July 2018, and had eleven phone conversations with him.
Both countries agreed to search solutions to "annoyances" in mutual relations, including visa hurdles, diplomatic property that was seized at the height of bilateral animosity, both countries' detained citizens.
Russians and Americans also hail "professional" bilateral contacts on "selected global and regional" issues, including Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea, the re-establishment of the US-Russia Working Group on Counterterrorism, "robust dynamics" of the dialogue between the national security councils.
These interactions, however, are deemed in Moscow still "sparse and insufficient" to bring out qualitative changes in the relations between the two countries.
Lavrov briefed both Pompeo and Trump on Monday's Normandy format talks in Paris between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. Pompeo confirmed that Ukraine was a major part of discussions with Lavrov.
Speaking in Washington, the minister reiterated that Russia expected from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "to end the war and stop deaths of people" in the southeast of his country by fully implementing the Minsk accords. Lavrov called on all foreign parties to encourage Kiev to live up to its commitments, agreed in February 2015 in the capital of Belarus.
"Any country, including the United States, and other Western and non-Western capitals, can help if they incline the Ukrainian side that they have influence on, in this case, if we are talking about the United States, it's Kiev, to scrupulously implement the Minsk agreements," Lavrov said.
He warned Washington against continuing with the policy of former US Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker who advocated foreign intervention in Donbas.
Both sides said they had also discussed Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ways to alleviate tensions in the Persian Gulf. On North Korea Pompeo praised Russia for implementing UN sanctions, while Lavrov called it unrealistic to expect from Pyongyang to comply with all American demands, including full denuclearization, and only after that getting something in return. He said that reciprocal steps were already needed, especially to address North Korea's pressing humanitarian needs.
Lavrov again denied accusations of interference in the 2016 presidential elections in the United States. He reminded that Russia sought to prove its innocence by repeatedly offering to publish its correspondence with the US on cyberthreats from October 2016 to January 2017, but received no response.
