RPT: REVIEW - Pompeo Leaves Sochi With US-Russian Arms Control Plan, Hope For Improving Relations

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2019) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during separate meetings in Sochi discussed a range of security issues including the situations in Syria, Iran and Venezuela, agreed on concrete steps on arms control, and expressed hope for improving the bilateral relationship.

Pompeo during his visit to Sochi on Tuesday first met with Lavrov to discuss a wide range of security issues with arms control topping the agenda. Then, the two diplomats held a joint press conference before Pompeo sat down for talks with Putin.

In February, the United States said it was exiting the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), and soon after Moscow reciprocated. The move stirred angst over the renewal of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

"Of course, we paid special attention to issues of strategic stability," Lavrov said at a press conference with Pompeo on Tuesday. "We considered the situation that is developing around the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. We talked about the prospects of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty [New START] due to the fact that it expires in February 2021."

Pompeo added that the United States and Russia will assemble teams that will work on the potential extension of New START as well as discussions on a broader range of arms control matters.

The bilateral talks on arms control will continue in the coming weeks, Pompeo said.

The US top diplomat said that he and US President Donald Trump think it would be important to get China involved in a potential trilateral arms control deal.

"President [Trump] wants serious arms control that delivers real security to the American people, and we know, and I think we agree on this, to achieve these goals we'll have to work together, and it would be important if that's possible we get China involved as well," Pompeo told reporters.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang ruled out Beijing from playing any role in US-Russian arms control negotiations.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov later on Tuesday said Putin during his meeting informed Pompeo that Russia is prepared to return to talks on missile defenses and strategic arms reduction.

Recent developments in Syria's Idlib province also came up as Lavrov and Pompeo discussed the overall situation in the country.

The Syrian government launched an operation last week against positions in Idlib against the Nusra Front terror group (banned in Russia), while Islamists attacked the northwestern provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia.

"I raised our concerns about the escalation of the situation around Idlib," Pompeo said during a joint press conference with Lavrov in Sochi.

Pompeo added that he and his counterpart agreed that the United States and Russia would like the general situation in Syria to advance on the political front so that the suffering of the Syrian people will come to an end.

Lavrov noted that both countries have agreed to continue consultations on Syria. He said he also discussed with Pompeo the fight against terrorism, the return of refugees, and political settlement in Syria.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters that he hopes the meeting between Lavrov and Pompeo will help facilitate progress in forming the Syrian constitutional committee.

Putin stressed to Pompeo the importance of respecting Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Later Pompeo told reporters there is a chance to make progress on peace talks in Syria.

"So there's the political process associated with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 that has been hung up, and I think we mutually now can begin to work together in a way to unlock that, to get that process to at least take the first step of forming that committee," Pompeo said on Tuesday. "I think we now have a common understanding of the places we were hung up, which I think we can work our way through."

On Venezuela, Lavrov said the United States and Russia will continue their dialogue in an effort to seek a resolution to the ongoing crisis despite disagreements over the leadership in the country.

"Despite our disagreements, we will keep talking," Pompeo said. "I hope we can find a way forward that ends the humanitarian and political crisis that is happening.

On this we both agree."

On Monday, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido formally requested military assistance from the United States to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, a request coming in the wake of a failed coup attempt on April 30.

Maduro, from day one, has accused Guaido of being a US puppet in league with Washington to orchestrate a coup. Russia, China and several other countries still recognize Maduro as Venezuelan's legitimate leader.

Lavrov during Tuesday's briefing said the US and Russian governments will also maintain dialogue on issues surrounding Iran's nuclear program with hope that both sides will be able to work together to help facilitate certain agreements.

The United States has sent warships and bombers to the middle East in recent days to threaten Iran. The confrontation comes a week after the one year anniversary of the United States leaving the Iran nuclear agreement. On May 8, to mark the occasion the United States imposed sanctions on Iran's metal industries while Tehran announced that it would enrich uranium at higher levels.

Pompeo told Lavrov the United States does not "fundamentally" seek war with Iran.

Lavrov told reporters that he and Pompeo discussed other security matters of mutual concern such as North Korea, Afghanistan, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), North Africa and the Middle East as a whole.

"Today we have thoroughly discussed the situation in our bilateral affairs and exchanged opinions on the most relevant international and regional issues: first and foremost, Venezuela, the Korean Peninsula, Syria, the Middle East on the whole, and North Africa as well, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and the situation around the JCPOA," Lavrov said.

Pompeo said the United States hopes progress can be made on Ukraine and urges Moscow to reach out to newly-elected President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Ushakov revealed that Pompeo and Putin did not discuss the Ukrainian conflict during their meeting, but they did briefly discuss US sanctions against Russia and the importance of a joint fight against international terrorism.

On North Korea, Lavrov affirmed that Russia was "prepared to support" a dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, with the ultimate goal of creating a "strong mechanism of peace and stability in Northeast Asia."

Pompeo and Putin emphasized that the United States and Russia have areas of overlapping interests and areas where they can work together to resolve issues.

"We did have a productive set of conversations this afternoon between us," Pompeo said during a meeting with Putin. "There's places we disagree, there's places I think there are truly overlapping interests that we can build on... there are places that our two countries can find where we can be cooperative, we could be productive."

In earlier remarks, Lavrov said tensions between Russia and the United States have a negative impact on the situation in the world in general. Moscow and Washington must attempt to resolve the current crisis in bilateral relations, Lavrov said.

Lavrov also announced that Russia will accept an official invitation for Putin to meet with Trump at the upcoming G20 summit in Japan.

Putin during his meeting with Pompeo addressed Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, underscoring that it proved there were no ties between Russia and Trump.

"We should give [Mueller] credit," Putin said. "In general, he conducted an objective probe and confirmed the absence of any traces and collusion between Russia and the current administration, which we initially characterized as complete nonsense: there was no interference on our part in the elections in the United States at the state level, and could not be."

Lavrov said the release of the Mueller report may help improve US-Russia relations by re-establishing communication between both countries.

Pompeo in a statement later Tuesday evening left things with a call for cooperation between the two superpowers.

"Today's meetings were a positive step forward," Pompeo said via Twitter about his meetings in Sochi. "US and Russia have demonstrated in the past that we can cooperate on key international issues. We urge Russia to work with us to change the trajectory of the relationship for the benefit of both nations."