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US-Russia relations may deteriorate further — Tillerson

However the US top diplomat named fight against terrorism as an "area of mutual interest"
 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson  AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
© AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

WASHINGTON, August 2. /TASS/. The Russian-US relations are at their historic low and may deteriorate further, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.

"As I indicated in my first trip to Moscow in meetings at the Kremlin with President Putin, following those meetings, the relationship was at a historic low since the end of the Cold War, and it could get worse," he told reporters.

"And the question, I think, of the events of the last week or so, is it getting worse or can we maintain some level of stability in that relationship, and continue to find ways to address areas of mutual interest and ways in which we can deal with our differences without those becoming open conflicts, as well?" the US top diplomat added.

He named fight against terrorism as "one area of mutual interest."

"We've chosen the theater in Syria as a place in which we test our ability to work together. We share the common view of ISIS (an extremist group, outlawed in Russia - TASS) as a threat to both of our countries and so we are committed to the defeat of ISIS, Daesh, other terrorists organizations," Tillerson said.

Speaking about the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the US Secretary of State called for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, saying that this issue was directly related to easing and eventually lifting the sanctions against Moscow.

"In the Ukraine, we have been very consistent in our messages to Russia," Tillerson said, adding that the Minsk Accords "must be achieved, they must be implemented, otherwise nothing can be done about the sanction situation in Ukraine."