RTWed, 11 Dec 2019 17:38 UTC
© Twitter / @realDonaldTrump'OMG, two Russians in the White House!' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Donald Trump
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he did not discuss 'election meddling' with his US hosts, but that Moscow is willing to publish communications with the Obama administration showing that nothing happened in 2016.
After meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department, Lavrov also sat down with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The White House readout of their meeting said that Trump had "warned against any Russian attempts to interfere in United States elections."
"We did not discuss the election," Lavrov told reporters later on Tuesday, adding that the talks focused on improving US-Russia relations going forward. When someone tried to frame that as an accusation that the White House had lied, the foreign minister clarified. "I did not read the White House readout," Lavrov said.
Insofar as the subject came up, the top Russian diplomat mentioned that Moscow was perfectly willing to publish the correspondence conducted with the Obama administration between October 2016 and January 2017, using the since-shuttered cybersecurity cooperation channel.
Lavrov noted that he did not understand why the current administration is refusing to release the documents, which he said would show that Russia had offered to help and clarify any allegations of "meddling" in the 2016 vote, only to have the Obama administration "categorically refuse."
Comment: Lavrov had some humorous, but
tart words for the hysterical MSM and Adam Schiff in particular, who found it ominous that one state official would be meeting another state official:
Answering a question by RT about that on Tuesday evening, Lavrov called Schiff's position "absurd."
"There was no press at our meeting, American or Russian. If Schiff can describe the ministerial-level contacts normal to any country and my meeting with the president in such a way, then I believe that they will soon accuse our diplomats, just as they have our athletes, of doping and call for criminal punishment," Lavrov told reporters.
One US reporter sought to trap Lavrov with a trick question, asking if Trump gave him any classified information again - in reference to the May 2017 meeting when the US president was accused of doing so.
"I can only find that out based on what you report," Lavrov replied, nonplussed. "We talked about what I openly and literally told you. If you find some secrets there, feel free to make that sensational."
Asked by another reporter about the timing of his visit to Washington - just as the House announced impeachment and the Senate debated another proposal to sanction Russia, the foreign minister shrugged it off, saying that US lawmakers seem to discuss these things every day, so today seemed as good as any.
Lavrov also took some members of Congress to task for
blocking the improvement of Russia-US relations:
Lavrov spent Tuesday in meetings with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department and Trump at the Oval Office. At a press conference later in the day, he was asked if Russia saw Trump as a reliable partner.
While Trump sincerely understands the benefits of good relations with Russia for both countries, Lavrov said, "Congress, in my opinion, is doing everything to destroy our relations," continuing the policies of the Obama administration.
He was referring specifically to the proposed new sanctions in the Senate, and the attempt to amend the must-pass NDAA military funding bill with measures against two Russian-built natural gas pipelines in Europe.
Yet despite the best efforts of politicians, the reality-based
bottom line continues to prevail:
"Regardless of the sanctions - which obviously hurt everyone - the trade between our two countries has grown during the Trump presidency from $20 billion, to which it was reduced under President Obama, to $27 billion this year," Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, told reporters in Washington, DC on Tuesday, after meeting with US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
"This is an increase of almost one third, and means new jobs in both countries and an increase in the profits of producers. I think that if we give additional incentives to such cooperation, the results will be even more mutually beneficial," Lavrov added.
While the Russian diplomat framed the trade numbers as an argument against the US blockade, Pompeo reiterated his government's commitment to keeping it in place. Asked what the conditions for lifting the sanctions would be, the secretary of state declined to answer, adding only that the Trump administration regarded the sanctions as "appropriate given US policy, US law and risks that are presented."
Actually Moscow would be just fine with the sanctions continuing. They have spurred a momentous renewal in Russian self-sufficiency.
Comment: Lavrov had some humorous, but tart words for the hysterical MSM and Adam Schiff in particular, who found it ominous that one state official would be meeting another state official: Lavrov also took some members of Congress to task for blocking the improvement of Russia-US relations: Yet despite the best efforts of politicians, the reality-based bottom line continues to prevail: Actually Moscow would be just fine with the sanctions continuing. They have spurred a momentous renewal in Russian self-sufficiency.