Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Reykjavik constructive.
According to the Minister, there is an understanding between the parties of the need to "overcome the unhealthy situation that has developed in relations between Moscow and Washington in previous years."
"There's a lot of rubble, it's not easy to clean it up, but I sensed in Antony Blinken and his team the determination to do it. It's not up to us," the Foreign Minister added.
Speaking about the situation with the diplomatic missions in Russia and the US, he noted that a chain reaction of mutual closing of diplomatic missions suits no one. "This vicious circle of strikes was initiated by the President (Barack - ed.) Obama, when he was leaving the White House <...> This chain reaction, in my opinion, does not suit anyone. I sensed the same feeling from our American colleagues. We will prepare proposals for our presidents," the Minister said.
Lavrov also said he discussed a number of international issues with his US counterpart: the situation on the Korean peninsula, the restoration of a joint comprehensive action plan on the Iranian nuclear program and the situation in Afghanistan. "We talked about how we can make all these actions more effective at this stage," the Minister said.
Lavrov and Blinken's talks in Reykjavik lasted nearly two hours. Opening the meeting - the first face-to-face one since Blinken's appointment - Lavrov said that Moscow and Washington should decide on how to further develop the relationship, the differences are serious.
Mr. Blinken said that the United States and Russia could work on many issues, despite their differences, and the world would be a safer place if the leaders began to cooperate.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from RIA Novosti