Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during his first telephone conversation with the new US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, said that Moscow is open for joint work to normalize the entire range of bilateral relations. This was reported on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Representatives of both states expressed their readiness to eliminate the accumulated difficulties in the functioning of the diplomatic missions of Russia and the United States on the territory of their countries. The Secretary of State noted that the United States agreed to organize an expert dialogue on this issue.
Lavrov and Blinken welcomed the extension until 2026 of the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START, informally known as START-3), and also discussed the problem of predictability in the field of arms control, given the US withdrawal from the Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and shorter range (INF Treaty) and the prospects of the Open Skies Treaty.
The heads of departments touched upon a number of international problems, such as the peaceful settlement in Syria and Libya, as well as the situation in Ukraine. In addition, they agreed to establish cooperation in the fight against coronavirus infection, including in the development and improvement of vaccines.
During the conversation, Lavrov urged his American counterpart to respect Russian laws and the judicial system in connection with the case of Alexei Navalny (founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation – FBK, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent) .
