Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday called on the United States to restart preparations for a high-stakes summit between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, originally slated for Budapest last month.
Media reports last month suggested that the plans for a meeting were cancelled after an October 20th phone call between Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which, the Financial Times said, led Washington to judge a meeting at that time to be pointless, given Moscow’s “sweeping demands.” The Russian FM, in an interview with The Moscow Times on Tuesday, seemed puzzled as to why the Budapest summit had been cancelled and accused British media of causing the cancellation by lying about Russian demands:
We had a good, polite conversation, without any disruptions. We basically confirmed moving forward based on the Anchorage understandings. And then we parted ways. The next step was supposed to be a meeting of representatives of foreign policy, military, and, as I understand it, intelligence agencies, and probably the security services. But instead, there was a public statement that there was no point in meeting.
Speaking to the Moscow Times on Tuesday, however, Lavrov said, “We’re ready to discuss with our American colleagues the resumption of preparatory work for the summit.” He reiterated Budapest as the ideal location “if and when our American colleagues renew their proposal.”
On Sunday, Lavrov said in an interview that he was ready to meet with Rubio, while emphasizing that peace in Ukraine depends on Russia’s interests being considered.
