In the previous two articles, we shared and reviewed the opening remarks from the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and the US Secretary of state Rex Tillerson and it was clear from the opening remarks that this meeting is going to be an exceptional one as Russia seeks to understand the real intentions of the Trump administration and its approach to the Russia-US relations especially after it attacked Shyrat airbase in Syria. We could also read the comments of Mr. Lavrov before the meeting that showed the hardened stance of Russia. Mr. Tillerson said that he is in Moscow to clarify the standpoint of US-Russia relations.

We expected that the post-meeting conference would provide some clarity on where the relations stand.

Here are the key highlights from post-meeting conference,

• Sergei Lavrov delivered the opening statement. He said the followings,
• Mr. Lavrov started with saying that it has been a long day as he met for four hours with secretary Tillerson, followed by a two hours meeting between the secretary and President Vladimir Putin as they have comprised the whole gamut of issues of importance to our bilateral relations as well as our interaction in the international arena.
• He stressed that many issued of the current situation were inherited from the previous Obama administration and efforts are required to overcome that and said that Russia seeks to do that. Russia understands that American counterparts would be moving towards us and Russia seeks to do same. He acknowledges that there are attempts to prevent that and even to escalate the confrontation but if Washington and Moscow cooperate it is for the sake of not just two nations but the whole world.
• It has been reaffirmed that both seek to fight international terrorism without any compromise. This issue was raised by both countries’ presidents when president Trump called President Putin to express his condolences for the recent terror attack at St. Petersburg. There were talks regarding Syria, chemical attacks on 4th and the subsequent US missile strikes on 7th April. Russia stressed on a very thorough investigation of the all that. Russia wants to apply to OPCW in Hague to conduct their investigation and sent a letter to Syria calling for cooperation with the investigation. Mr. Lavrov said that Mr. Tillerson supports this kind of investigation. Russia shall attempt in the Security Council to approve a memorandum which will not speak so much about the investigation as to try and fix and identify the culprits.
• President Putin is ready to restore the air cooperation memorandum with the United States, which was canceled after US missile strikes so the forces of the coalition and the Russian forces can combat Jabhat al-Nusrah and other terrorist organizations and ISIL.
• Mr. Lavrov said that the publicly publicized intention of both Russia and America remains in place not to interfere in the internal affairs of that country, and we trust that countries in the region should not repeat this kind of incident, particularly the countries of the Middle East.
• He said that Russia and the US have a common interest to find a political solution in Syria.
• There were talks regarding Afghanistan. With regard to that he said, “As you know, in the last couple of years, we have been meeting in various formats which were aimed at external assistance to Afghanistan. And one of the attempts which we have undertaken will be – will come on April 14th in Moscow. This, of course, Moscow format with the participation of both Afghanistan and its neighbors, including Asian countries, and we hope very much that the U.S. representative will also be there.”
• The duo has touched upon Ukraine too and both believe Minsk agreement should be fulfilled. In that context, he condemned the two-way channel communications in the previous administration. The US and Russia would work to find ways to fulfill the Minsk agreement. “We greet – applaud such efforts, and of course, we are fully in favor of them.”
• Russia and the U.S. are committed to starting a negotiation process in order to settle the question of stabilizing the Korean Peninsula through political and diplomatic efforts.
• He expressed Russia’s concern about the regional and global military-political buildup and stressed that negotiations are required about strategic reductions. He again condemned the previous White House for the pause in that and expressed the belief that it is very important to continue to work on this arms reduction and work very businesslike – in a businesslike way, efficiently. He said that Mr. Tillerson agreed with that.
• Economic relations between the two countries were also discussed.
• The duo has agreed to nominate special representatives from the MFA and the State Department so different ways can be looked at to improve the relations. “We understand that in our relations there is certain discomfort. And of course, that is vitiated by the technology progress, particularly the virtual world and cyberscience. Some people are clearly abusing these possibilities provided by modern technology and trying to use them for very illegitimate political ends. And I think that both the U.S. and Russia – in those both countries, there are a number of sensible, reasonable people who can weed out the ground, and in the interests of our peoples, we can overcome this problem.”
• Finally, he concluded that there are great potentials for future work to mend ties and the long hours of talks today were not in vain. “We obviously hope for reciprocity from the U.S., and I’m absolutely sure that today’s meetings, the many hours we spent with Rex Tillerson together and with the president of the Russian Federation were not spent in vain. We understand each other better after what we’ve done today, and I hope very much that these contacts will be continued directly between us and also through those people who operate and other agencies of the U.S. and the Government of the Russian Federation. Thank you.”

From our review of the pre-meeting conference, we have seen the chilling attitude and condemnation; however, they are all missing from the post-meeting one. It sounds a bit optimistic, but this looks like the very first step in improving relations between the US and Russia.