Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow and Washington must “clean up” the legacy of the former US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has ruined the relations between the two countries.
After his return from a meeting with US diplomats in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Lavrov described the meeting in Riyadh as a first step towards the restoration of relations between the two countries in a speech to the Russian State Duma on Wednesday. The bilateral talks, led by Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, aimed to lay the groundwork for the end of the Ukraine conflict and the normalization of relations between Russia and the US.
“We have begun to move away from the edge of the abyss that the Biden administration led us to, but this is only the first step” Lavrov commented on the talks.
“First, we need to ‘clean up’ the legacy of the Biden administration, which has done everything to destroy the foundation of a long-term partnership between our countries” he added. According to the diplomat, “the movement towards the normalization of relations is beginning in all areas”.
“At least, there is a declared willingness to take this path. And not just to resolve the Ukraine crisis, but also to create conditions for the restoration and development of the partnership in the fields of trade, economy and geopolitics” Lavrov said. He noted that the US representatives have expressed a clear interest in removing “artificially created” obstacles for possible joint initiatives with Russia in many areas, including economics and foreign policy.
Both sides agreed to restock the embassies and form high-level teams to begin work on a possible peace settlement for Ukraine.
“We welcome this” Lavrov said and pointed out that the countries could eventually return to the state of cooperation they had before the Ukraine conflict and the Western sanctions against Russia.
“There will always be problems, but the most important thing is to meet, listen to each other and make decisions that are realistic in the context of the partners they affect” he explained.
In Washington, the talks on Tuesday were described as “really monumental”. Even US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged on Tuesday that the West must ease the sanctions against Russia to achieve a lasting solution to the conflict and restore relations. US President Donald Trump stated on late Tuesday, in the presence of journalists, that he is now “much more optimistic” about the prospects for a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine in view of the approaching rapprochement with Moscow.