02:07Russia: Some are trying to undermine US-Russian initiative- Lavrov
Russia: Some are trying to undermine US-Russian initiative- Lavrov
The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Leonid Kozhara, met in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Monday, October 28th, one month before Kiev is expected to sign a landmark agreement with the European Union.
The meeting, held during the Russian-Ukrainian international cooperation subcommittee, mostly focused on emerging international challenges and threats, regional conflicts, border disputes, international organizations and the upcoming Geneva II conference.
Sergey Lavrov said, "The election took place yesterday, less than 24 hours ago, all the incoming reports indicate that it was a free and fair election and its outcome is not disputed by anyone. We extend our congratulations to the people of Georgia. As for the role of this election in the future prospects of the Russian-Georgian relations, it is now, as I understand it, up to the Georgian authorities. They have yet to form the government; there were announcements that the current prime minister is going to leave his post. Thus, we wish the Georgian people every success in finalizing all the particulars of this process leading to the formation of the new government. And we hope that the new government will choose a policy of friendly relationship with Russia, a policy that would take into account the specifics of this very challenging region. The same is true in regard to the possibility of renewing the diplomatic relationship. Severing this relationship wasn't Russia's doing, so we shall expect a notification or a statement from Georgia as to which policy they intend to pursue in the area of bilateral relationship with our country."
During their joint press-conference, Lavrov said that that he doubted whether some of the countries who have influence in Syria are genuine in wanting to help negotiate peace.
He said, "Everybody has been supportive of the Geneva-2 initiative as far as rhetoric is concerned, but in reality, some of the nations with considerable influence over the Syrian crisis have been directly working to undermine the US-Russian initiative."
02:07Russia: Some are trying to undermine US-Russian initiative- Lavrov
The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Leonid Kozhara, met in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Monday, October 28th, one month before Kiev is expected to sign a landmark agreement with the European Union.
The meeting, held during the Russian-Ukrainian international cooperation subcommittee, mostly focused on emerging international challenges and threats, regional conflicts, border disputes, international organizations and the upcoming Geneva II conference.
Sergey Lavrov said, "The election took place yesterday, less than 24 hours ago, all the incoming reports indicate that it was a free and fair election and its outcome is not disputed by anyone. We extend our congratulations to the people of Georgia. As for the role of this election in the future prospects of the Russian-Georgian relations, it is now, as I understand it, up to the Georgian authorities. They have yet to form the government; there were announcements that the current prime minister is going to leave his post. Thus, we wish the Georgian people every success in finalizing all the particulars of this process leading to the formation of the new government. And we hope that the new government will choose a policy of friendly relationship with Russia, a policy that would take into account the specifics of this very challenging region. The same is true in regard to the possibility of renewing the diplomatic relationship. Severing this relationship wasn't Russia's doing, so we shall expect a notification or a statement from Georgia as to which policy they intend to pursue in the area of bilateral relationship with our country."
During their joint press-conference, Lavrov said that that he doubted whether some of the countries who have influence in Syria are genuine in wanting to help negotiate peace.
He said, "Everybody has been supportive of the Geneva-2 initiative as far as rhetoric is concerned, but in reality, some of the nations with considerable influence over the Syrian crisis have been directly working to undermine the US-Russian initiative."