On December 15, US Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive in Moscow for a working visit. He will meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to exchange opinions on bilateral relations and current international issues.

Russian-American relations can be described as difficult. A series of confrontational steps, which Washington has taken under the pretext of the Ukrainian crisis, has seriously affected bilateral relations. In March 2014, the United States suspended the Bilateral Presidential Commission, and subsequently approved in several stages restrictive measures against Russian citizens and organisations.

While responding to these steps in kind, including to dangerous military actions undertaken, Russia pointes to the need to respect the principles of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations. At the same time, Russia continues to cooperate with the United States in the areas where this meets Russian interests and serves the tasks of international security. The fight against terrorism is one of the key issues of the Russian-US dialogue.

We have been actively working with our American and other colleagues on the Syrian crisis to create the necessary conditions for launching a political process based on the 2012 Geneva Communique. This is one of the goals of the International Syria Support Group, which held ministerial meetings in Vienna in October and November under the co-chairmanship of Russia, the United States and the UN.

Regarding trade and economic relations, the bulk of American companies would like to continue their cooperation with Russia. Despite the sanctions, bilateral trade increased by 5.6 per cent in 2014 and reached $29.2 billion. This year, bilateral trade has decreased by 30 per cent. At the same time, though, the US share in Russia’s trade has increased from 3.3 per cent in 2013 to 4 per cent in 2015.

We more than once urged the settlement of issues on a bilateral agenda in relation to problems that were created by Washington before the Ukrainian crisis. We demand that the US law enforcement authorities stop the hunt for Russian citizens in other countries.  We likewise are focusing our attention on protecting the rights of Russian adoptees who have been abused by their US adoptive parents.

Despite difficulties in bilateral relations, we continue to implement a score of Russian-American agreements. One of them is the 2010 Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (new START), which is crucial for maintaining global strategic stability.

We hope that the upcoming visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry, his second visit to Russia this year, will help normalise Russian-US relations, which largely influence the global atmosphere.

 

December 11, 2015