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Russia’s Deputy FM Ryabkov to meet US Under-Secretary of State Shannon in January

Moscow is guided by the assumption that the meeting will be held in Russia, Sergei Ryabkov said

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov

© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, January 8. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov plans to meet US Under-Secretary of State Thomas Shannon in January to discuss issues related to strategic stability and bilateral agenda.

"We welcome the willingness of the US side to organize a meeting of deputy heads of foreign services for discussion of a whole range of issues related to strategic stability and those of bilateral agenda. In terms of timing, we obviously prefer January," he told TASS on Monday.

"Moscow is guided by the assumption that the meeting will be held in Russia," he added.

The US side has no information about any planned meetings, a representative of the US State of Department said, adding that Washington expects the same level and frequency of contacts with Russia in 2018 as in 2017.

Previously Ryabkov and Shannon met on September 11-12 in Finland’s Helsinki. The sides failed to reach any practical agreement on bilateral issues, but, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s earlier statement, Russia and the United States were able to clarify their stance on a number of issues.

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