The trip has been confirmed by Russian and US officials.
"This trip is part of our ongoing effort to maintain direct lines of communication with senior Russian officials and to ensure US views are clearly conveyed," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a written statement.
And we're off again: @JohnKerry traveling to Sochi to meet with President Putin, FM Lavrov tomorrow to discuss #Iran, #Syria, #Ukraineโ Marie Harf (@marieharf) May 11, 2015
Russia's Foreign Ministry said that Moscow is ready for the dialogue with Washington.
Russia is "open for cooperation [with the US] on the basis of equality, non-interference in internal affairs, and taking Russian interests into account without attempts to pressure us," the ministry said in a statement.
Secretary Kerry will travel to Sochi, #Russia and Antalya, #Turkey this week. Details at http://t.co/oGgx9iKVg2. โ Department of State (@StateDept) May 11, 2015
Earlier, RIA Novosti news agency quoted a Russian diplomatic source as saying that Kerry's arrival was "very symbolic," since the top US diplomat had canceled the trip several times.
This will be Kerry's first visit to Russia since the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine in November 2013.
Lavrov and Kerry met last in March during the Iran nuclear talks in Switzerland's Lausanne, where several world leaders were working hard to hammer out a final decision on Iran's nuclear program before a looming deadline of March 31.
Last time Putin and Obama met was at the G20 summit in Australian Brisbane in 2014. The US president also declined Kremlin's invitation to attend the May 9 celebrations in Moscow.
The death toll in the Ukrainian conflict has exceeded 6,100 people, according to UN estimates from April 2015. There was a scaling down the level of violence in eastern Ukraine since then, but little progress in finding a long-term solution that would restore peace in the country.
The career political class is the quintessential predatory clique. If you remember and understand any aspect about politics, let it be the nature of the people who devote their lives to a band of thieves. Forget about the seeming dissimilarities in ideology, the political culture maintains a common conduct. Ignore the rhetoric that resembles opposing viewpoints, the club of controllers protects each other. And if you ever believed in heroes and are still waiting for a savior, your disappointment will eventually turn into despair. What sustain the process of government are the deception of its vice and the refusal of the public to admit that the game never changes. - continued
[Link]