Politics
21:20, 22-Aug-2018
Russia asks if US wants better ties before meeting Trump adviser
Updated
21:03, 25-Aug-2018
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The Kremlin said on Wednesday it needed to understand if there was political will in Washington to cooperate with Russia as it prepared for a meeting between US National Security Adviser John Bolton and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev.
The two men are due to meet in Geneva for talks on Thursday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that President Vladimir Putin had met his Security Council on Wednesday to discuss problems in relations with the United States ahead of the meeting.
Just a day ago, the United States imposed sanctions on two Russian individuals, a Russian firm and a Slovakian firm as part of a US program targeting malicious cyber-related activities. The Russian side called the sanctions were introduced under a “false pretense.”
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US President Donald Trump met Putin last month, an event Moscow quickly chalked up as a triumph. However, the new salvo of US sanctions was announced in the wake of the meeting after Trump came under fire at home for his handling of the summit.
“The worsening of bilateral relations is continuing, we need to identify some kind of areas for cooperation and also to understand if there are any such areas and whether our counterpart (the United States) has a desire for this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
Source(s): Reuters