Reuters, Moscow :
Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Tuesdays that relations with the United States were at their lowest ebb since the Cold War, but hoped they could improve under U.S. President Donald Trump.
Russia will analyze Trump’s debut address to Congress later on Tuesday for signs of any change in the U.S. stance, Sergei Ryabkov told parliament in Moscow.
“It will be important to analyze those signals and approaches which will be a part of Trump’s first appearance as the head of a superpower,” the RIA news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.
“It would be desirable to believe that changes in Washington will create a window of opportunity for an improvement of a dialogue between our countries.”
In Washington, Trump’s opponents accuse him of already getting too close to Moscow. A U.S. congressional committee is investigating contacts between Trump’s election campaign and Russia to see if there were any inappropriate communications.
Relations between the two nuclear powers are strained over a number of issues, including Ukraine, the war in Syria, and relations with Iran.
Ryabkov said Russia had not discussed with Washington the sanctions imposed over the annexation of Crimea, but said it would be easier for to work with the United States on the Syria crisis if they were lifted.
“We did not discuss and we do not discuss criteria for the lifting of sanctions. Restrictions in a number of areas are of course affecting us, but no more than the damage they cause to American exports,” the Itar TASS agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who has attacked China on issues from trade to the South China Sea, held his first face-to-face talks with a member of the Chinese leadership on Monday, and the White House said it was a chance to discuss shared security interests and a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China’s top diplomat, met Trump briefly after talks with the new US National Security adviser, HR McMaster; Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner; and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. A senior US administration official said discussions included bilateral cooperation and the possibility of arranging a meeting between Trump and Xi, but no date was set.
The official said the meeting with Trump lasted five to seven minutes.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer called it “an opportunity to say ‘hi’ to the president” before Yang left.
“This was an opportunity to begin that conversation and talk to them on shared interests of national security,” he added at a regular news briefing.
Yang, who outranks China’s foreign minister, is the first top Chinese official to visit the White House since Trump took office on Jan. 20.
His visit followed a phone call between Yang and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week, during which the two affirmed the importance of a constructive US-China relationship.
It was the latest step by the world’s two largest economies to try to put relations back on an even keel after a rocky start following Trump’s election victory.
Trump has been a strong critic of Beijing, accusing China of unfair trade policies, criticizing its island building in the strategic South China Sea, and accusing it of not doing enough to constrain its neighbour, North Korea.
Trump incensed Beijing in December by talking to the president of Taiwan and saying the United States did not have to stick to the “one China” policy, under which Washington acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China, of which Taiwan is a part.
Trump later agreed in a phone call with Xi to honour the “one China” policy in a diplomatic boost for Beijing, which vehemently opposes criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Tuesdays that relations with the United States were at their lowest ebb since the Cold War, but hoped they could improve under U.S. President Donald Trump.
Russia will analyze Trump’s debut address to Congress later on Tuesday for signs of any change in the U.S. stance, Sergei Ryabkov told parliament in Moscow.
“It will be important to analyze those signals and approaches which will be a part of Trump’s first appearance as the head of a superpower,” the RIA news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.
“It would be desirable to believe that changes in Washington will create a window of opportunity for an improvement of a dialogue between our countries.”
In Washington, Trump’s opponents accuse him of already getting too close to Moscow. A U.S. congressional committee is investigating contacts between Trump’s election campaign and Russia to see if there were any inappropriate communications.
Relations between the two nuclear powers are strained over a number of issues, including Ukraine, the war in Syria, and relations with Iran.
Ryabkov said Russia had not discussed with Washington the sanctions imposed over the annexation of Crimea, but said it would be easier for to work with the United States on the Syria crisis if they were lifted.
“We did not discuss and we do not discuss criteria for the lifting of sanctions. Restrictions in a number of areas are of course affecting us, but no more than the damage they cause to American exports,” the Itar TASS agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who has attacked China on issues from trade to the South China Sea, held his first face-to-face talks with a member of the Chinese leadership on Monday, and the White House said it was a chance to discuss shared security interests and a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China’s top diplomat, met Trump briefly after talks with the new US National Security adviser, HR McMaster; Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner; and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. A senior US administration official said discussions included bilateral cooperation and the possibility of arranging a meeting between Trump and Xi, but no date was set.
The official said the meeting with Trump lasted five to seven minutes.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer called it “an opportunity to say ‘hi’ to the president” before Yang left.
“This was an opportunity to begin that conversation and talk to them on shared interests of national security,” he added at a regular news briefing.
Yang, who outranks China’s foreign minister, is the first top Chinese official to visit the White House since Trump took office on Jan. 20.
His visit followed a phone call between Yang and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week, during which the two affirmed the importance of a constructive US-China relationship.
It was the latest step by the world’s two largest economies to try to put relations back on an even keel after a rocky start following Trump’s election victory.
Trump has been a strong critic of Beijing, accusing China of unfair trade policies, criticizing its island building in the strategic South China Sea, and accusing it of not doing enough to constrain its neighbour, North Korea.
Trump incensed Beijing in December by talking to the president of Taiwan and saying the United States did not have to stick to the “one China” policy, under which Washington acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China, of which Taiwan is a part.
Trump later agreed in a phone call with Xi to honour the “one China” policy in a diplomatic boost for Beijing, which vehemently opposes criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan.
