U.S., Russia spar over Iran, Venezuela

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Europe

02:52

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Russia saying he expected a frank discussion with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. This is an attempt to build some consensus in a relationship marred by years of mistrust.

They addressed a joint press conference, but their views shared little in common. The differences were too apparent to ignore, most notably on Iran and Venezuela.

Pompeo once again warned Iran against targeting American interests, but asserted that they are not considering military action.

He said: "We fundamentally do not seek a war with Iran. We are looking for the regime to simply stop conducting assassination campaigns."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns Iran against targeting American interests, but asserts that they are not considering military action. /Reuters Photo

Lavrov criticized the U.S. position on Iran, terming the pull-out from the nuclear deal a "mistake". On Venezuela, the divergence was sharper.

Pompeo said the United States and more than 50 other nations agree that the time has come for Nicolas Maduro to go because he's brought nothing but misery to the Venezuelan people.

But Lavrov opposes: "Democracy cannot be established by force."

The Russian foreign minister also reminded the U.S. of its past interventions in the name of restoring democracy.

"We remember back in 2003, in May, I suppose, then-President of the United States George W. Bush aboard an aircraft-carrier declared that democracy was established in Iraq. We remember back in 2011, it was declared that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had been brought down and that democracy was established in Libya."

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei(C), says a war will not happen between the U.S. and Iran, during a government meeting in Tehran, May 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Disagreements aside, Pompeo also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the meeting, Putin said relations could soon be back on track: "For our part, we always said that we also would like to restore the relationship in a full-scale format. I hope that the necessary conditions for this are now being created."

With a possible meeting between the two presidents at the G20 next month, both sides seem to have decided to take one step at a time.

But for now, the two countries would continue to be on opposite sides of so many of the world's crises.