lavrov kerry
© Alexander Scherbak/TASS
The Russian Foreign Ministry considers unacceptable attempts to present the contacts between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry who are holding talks in Moscow on Tuesday in the context of Russia's containment, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday.

"We are aggrieved by and fully reject US attempts to present such contacts in the context of the policy to contain and 'isolate' Russia. This is a deliberate distortion of the real state of affairs, such statements are made in the interests of the anti-Russian part of the international community," Ryabkov said.

"Issues of strengthening strategic stability will be discussed. There are problems here considering the course of the current administration on deploying infrastructure near Russian borders together with NATO allies. All this will be on the agenda of talks," Ryabkov said.

The talks between Russian Foreign Minister and US State Secretary John Kerry have started in Moscow. This is the 20th meeting between the diplomats this year.

Lavrov and Kerry will discuss the situation in Syria in the context of joint work in the International Syria Support Group, developments in Ukraine and bilateral relations.

After the talks, Lavrov and Kerry will have a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.