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Russian official says meeting with Shannon ‘without results to feel proud of’

The setting up of the Ryabkov-Shannon format was one of the results of the visit to Moscow that the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, made in April

MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday he believes his meeting with Thomas Shannon, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs did not produce any results one could feel proud of.

"I must admit the expectations were highly overblown, too, but anyway I wouldn’t take pride in the results," he said. "By and large, there was nothing there that I could proudly about."

As for the problem of Russian diplomatic properties arrested by US authorities, "there are very few peeks in the American position on the issue," Ryabkov said.

"I’m convinced we should seek agreement until the last moment and use any opportunity to do it but unfortunately there are very few peeks in the American position on the diplomatic propertie and on other issues at this moment," he said.

The setting up of the Ryabkov-Shannon format was one of the results of the visit to Moscow that the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, made in April. The workgroup co-chaired by Ryabkov and Shannon had its first meeting in New York on May 8.

Moscow postponed the second meeting that was initially due to take place in St Petersburg on June 23. The Russian side explained for the postponement by citing Washington’s decision to expand the anti-Russian sanctions but the meeting was eventually held on July 17 in Washington.

The Administration of the then outgoing President Barack Obama declared 35 Russian diplomats at the embassy in Washington and the Consulate General in San Francisco personae non gratae at the end of 2016 and seized two Russian diplomatic mansions located in New York State and in Maryland.

In the aftermath of the seizure, the authorities banned access to the two compounds for the Russian legations’ staff members.

Moscow did not take immediate retaliatory measures but the reserved the right to do so at any time in the future.