“Clinton Knows That We Will Answer”

Firstly, the Russian Foreign Minister informed his American colleague of the consequences of the U.S. congress’ decision to approve the so-called “Magnitsky Act,” which will impose sanctions on Russian officials.

The approved document, which the congressmen had tied in with the abolition of the Jackson-Venik amendment, had previously drawn sharp criticism from Moscow. “The case is almost settled in Washington. Hillary Clinton knows that we will respond adequately,” Lavrov confirmed Russia’s position on Tuesday.

The Minister also stated that on his part, Moscow would continue its efforts to return Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko to Russia, both of whom have been convicted in the U.S. “During our conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State, we once again repeated to the American side that we would continue to take measures to return Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko to Russia,” he was quoted as saying in RIA Novosti.

They touched upon the problem of a U.S. missile defense shield being placed in Europe. “Hillary Clinton has said that President Obama is set to continue his efforts to seek a compromise on missile defense,” said the head of the Foreign Ministry.

We must remember that during one of his last meetings with Dmitri Medvedev, Obama confirmed that in the event of his re-election as President, he could become “more flexible” on the matter. Once this promise reached the public sphere it then became the subject of harsh criticism from those in opposition to the U.S . leader, accusing him of betrayal of the national interest.

“No definitive answer has been heard”

The two sides also discussed world problems. In part, according to Lavrov, Russia and the U.S. agreed to “fully support the efforts of Egypt and other countries to achieve a cease-fire in the Gaza strip.”

“Russia has been working with representatives of Israel and of Hamas to achieve a truce. We support the Arab efforts and are sending the necessary signals, including through the UN Security Council,” said Lavrov.

It was on Moscow’s initiative that the Security Council had arranged a meeting the previous night, at which Russia introduced her plan to resolve the conflict in the Near East. Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s envoy to the UN, stated that the document consisted of three parts. It includes a call for the immediate cessation of violence in order to establish a cease-fire. Russia also expressed her support for all international and regional efforts to regulate the situation in a peaceful and diplomatic manner. The third part calls for a renewal of negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

Even Lavrov struggled to predict the development of events in this conflict. He only explained that after its regulation, Moscow is prepared to discuss a meeting of the Near East “quartet” with Washington at the ministerial level, with the participation of the Arab League.

It will be be even more difficult to conduct a dialogue between the two countries regarding Syria. The head of Russian diplomacy confessed that Russia and the USA have no common ground on this matter.

“We are committed to the Geneva communiqué, which involves the formation of an interim governing agency based on agreements between the authorities and their opposition. But for this, of course, the opposition should unite on the platform of the Geneva communiqué,” ITAR-TASS has quoted Lavrov as saying.

The minister reminded us that in Doha, a part of the opposition united into a coalition, the aim of which was to contradict the agreements reached in Geneva. “In the document which was accepted in Doha, it is stated that the main aim of the opposition is to overthrow the regime and to practically destroy all state institutions. We went through all of this in Iraq and remember how heavily the Iraqi people paid for all that happened to them. In the light of this, I asked Hillary Clinton how America sees its future moves, but have not yet received a final answer. We have agreed to continue our talks on this topic, because the situation is very, very tense”, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry explained.

We must add that the previous day it had become known that the head of member-states of the EU had recognized the opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, the legitimate government of the country. “The EU considers the aspirations of the Syrian people legitimate,” says the official communiqué, issued after the last summit on Monday.