MINSK, 21 October (BelTA) - It is too early to name a date for a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. For now, it is only an idea, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the media, TASS reports.
“Neither before the phone call, nor during yesterday's phone conversation [between Lavrov and Rubio] the issue of a meeting was raised in concrete terms,” Sergey Ryabkov said.
“It exists as an idea. But it is premature to talk about schedules,” he emphasized.
According to Sergey Ryabkov, “any such significant meeting must be properly prepared.” “This requires carefully going through the 'homework' phase,” the diplomat explained. He assured: “That is exactly what we are doing now.”
“The situation is such that the presidential communication, I mean the phone conversation between President Putin and President Trump last week, touched on the topic of next steps. One aspect of such steps is, of course, communication between Foreign Minister Lavrov and Secretary of State Rubio," Sergey Ryabkov noted. He recalled that on Monday, "the corresponding communication took place.”
“Now we are focusing on what the top diplomats discussed," the Russian deputy foreign minister noted.
Commenting on claims that a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been suspended, Sergey Ryabkov said: “I would like to point out that it’s impossible to put on hold what has not been agreed on. I am sure that we will continue to face a situation where various news outlets, namely Western ones, release unfounded bogus stories in order to make the headlines and trigger speculations and questions, spreading it all and making sure it is analyzed the way the Westerners need," the diplomat noted.
CNN reported earlier, citing White House sources, that a meeting between Lavrov and Rubio, which had been expected to take place in the coming days, had been “put on hold indefinitely”.
On 16 October, U.S. President Donald Trump, after a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, announced that they had agreed to meet in Budapest soon. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov stated that Moscow and Washington would immediately begin preparing for a new summit which could be organized in the Hungarian capital.
Lavrov and Rubio talked over phone on 20 October. "A constructive discussion took place regarding possible concrete steps to implement the understandings reached during the October 16 telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.
“Neither before the phone call, nor during yesterday's phone conversation [between Lavrov and Rubio] the issue of a meeting was raised in concrete terms,” Sergey Ryabkov said.
“It exists as an idea. But it is premature to talk about schedules,” he emphasized.
According to Sergey Ryabkov, “any such significant meeting must be properly prepared.” “This requires carefully going through the 'homework' phase,” the diplomat explained. He assured: “That is exactly what we are doing now.”
“The situation is such that the presidential communication, I mean the phone conversation between President Putin and President Trump last week, touched on the topic of next steps. One aspect of such steps is, of course, communication between Foreign Minister Lavrov and Secretary of State Rubio," Sergey Ryabkov noted. He recalled that on Monday, "the corresponding communication took place.”
“Now we are focusing on what the top diplomats discussed," the Russian deputy foreign minister noted.
Commenting on claims that a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been suspended, Sergey Ryabkov said: “I would like to point out that it’s impossible to put on hold what has not been agreed on. I am sure that we will continue to face a situation where various news outlets, namely Western ones, release unfounded bogus stories in order to make the headlines and trigger speculations and questions, spreading it all and making sure it is analyzed the way the Westerners need," the diplomat noted.
CNN reported earlier, citing White House sources, that a meeting between Lavrov and Rubio, which had been expected to take place in the coming days, had been “put on hold indefinitely”.
On 16 October, U.S. President Donald Trump, after a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, announced that they had agreed to meet in Budapest soon. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov stated that Moscow and Washington would immediately begin preparing for a new summit which could be organized in the Hungarian capital.
Lavrov and Rubio talked over phone on 20 October. "A constructive discussion took place regarding possible concrete steps to implement the understandings reached during the October 16 telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.
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