Moscow prepares for a meeting between Lavrov and Tillerson in Vienna
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has announced the possibility of a meeting between the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of the United States and Russia, to occur in Vienna on December 7-8, Radio Liberty reports.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that a meeting in Vienna between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is "being worked out."
The US Department of State previously reported that a meeting between Lavrov and Tillerson had already been planned to take place on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council, and that the date was just being agreed upon.
According to a Ministry representative, the foreign ministers "will continue lively negotiations on many international topics, including North Korea, Ukraine and Syria."
A State Department official, who asked to remain anonymous, also told reporters that considerable attention will be paid to Ukraine during the OSCE meeting.
"The secretary really has a heart for…the safety and security of the Ukrainian people in the east in the occupied territories, who continue to be the target of military operations with the encouragement and participation of forces from the Russian Federation," he stressed.
In addition, the Representative added, the US is continuing negotiations on Ukraine with the Russians through meetings between State Department Special Representative Kurt Volker and Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov.
Lavrov previously said that contact between aides to the heads of state of the Normandy Format would be resumed shortly.