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Russia says Kerry’s visit to Sochi offers Moscow, Washington chance to restore trust

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks in Sochi

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. A senior lawmaker from Russia's parliamentary upper house said on Wednesday he believed that confidence between Moscow and Washington could be re-established but the United States should change its attitude towards a peaceful settlement to the conflict Ukraine.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs committee, was commenting on results of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"Russia-US meetings in Sochi offer a chance to restore trust. The key to resolving the crisis is the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the parties to the conflict, and not Moscow," Kosachev told journalists, adding that "today’s NATO foreign ministers summit in Turkey and Kerry’s stance on sanctions against Russia" will show the U.S.’ readiness "to follow this understanding, and not the logic of geopolitical games."

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks in Sochi, in the first visit to Russia by the US top diplomat since the start of the crisis in Ukraine.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists on Tuesday that the talks between Putin and Kerry yielded no major breakthrough but the Kremlin regarded them as the first signs of understanding that the two great powers should get their relations back on track.

"Our president proceeded in the conversation from our fundamental interest in seeing bilateral relations get back to normal," Ushakov said. "As it was emphasized, it meets the interests of Russia, and we hope the interests of the US, and is extremely important from the point of view of ensuring international stability and security," he added.

"Proceeding from this, we consider the talks very useful, necessary and positive," he added.