- Title: Russia hopes for wide cooperation with a new U.S.administration - Lavrov
- Date: 17th January 2017
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JANUARY 17, 2017) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE BY RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "As I have heard, Donald Trump has called the fight against terror his priority, his main political priority. Of course, I hope that our cooperation on the Syrian crisis, as well as on other issues connected to the fight against terror will be more effective than it was with the Obama administration." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We think it would be the right thing to do to invite UN representatives and representatives of the new US administration to this meeting, considering that this meeting will take place on November (January) 23 as it is planned for now. We hope that the new administration will be able to accept this invitation and will be represented by its experts if it is possible." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "It is understandable that the president-elect mentioned nuclear arsenals while talking about Russia. I am convinced that for us, as well, one of our priorities will be the renewal of dialogue on strategic stability with Washington which was destroyed along with everything else by the Obama administration. It (the Obama's administration) has broken so many pots and destroyed so many useful mechanisms that it is difficult to count." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "This whole package - maybe I have forgotten something - really influences the way strategic balance and parity in the world are secured. As soon as the (new) U.S. administration takes the office and gets ready to meet, we also will be ready to meet, talk in a business-like manner, with a feeling of responsibility for the people of our countries and for the people in the rest of the world." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We've seen attempts to prove it which are not worth a penny, which have already been denied by England and by their colleagues in the United States who tried to create trouble for the new U.S. administration, also by this scoundrel and fugitive from MI6. I could keep going. Our TV talk shows are filled with emotional discussions of these outrageous provocations which discredit Europe and the part of America which has been involved in this. We can endlessly talk about how absurd and fake these facts and these lies are, but I am not going to do that." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "They all (members of Obama administration and US intelligence and media) have been collecting evidence that we - Russia - have financial connections with Trump or he has this connection with us. If this entire team of respected institutions managed to come up only with what they have made public recently - then they really deserve to be fired, because they are paid for nothing, they are worthless." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 31st January 2017 10:28
- Keywords: Russia Lavrov Trump U.S.
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZGXAO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday (January 17) that the Russian leadership hopes to establish a good dialogue with Donald Trump's administration on various issues, including a fight against terrorism, nuclear weapons and Syrian crisis.
At a news conference in Moscow Lavrov said Russia expected to have a dialogue with the Trump administration on strategic stability, including on nuclear weapons and added that he thought it was right to invite the Trump administration to peace talks on the Syria conflict that are planned for Jan. 23 in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.
Lavrov said he hoped the Trump administration would accept the invitation and welcomed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's desire to make fighting international terrorism a priority.
He also told reporters he hoped Russia and Trump could cooperate more effectively on Syria than Russia did with the Obama administration.
Lavrov has brushed aside allegations that Russia has financial connections with Trump and called "absurd and fake" documents presented last week to the U.S. President-elect which included claims that Russian intelligence operatives have compromising information about him. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
