DUSHANBE/REYKJAVIK, May 19. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will arrive in Iceland Wednesday, where he will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the first time.
The long-awaited negotiations will take place on the sidelines of the Arctic Council ministerial session that will take place in Reykjavik on May 20. The meeting between the two top diplomats was negotiated on May 12.
Lavrov will arrive at Reykjavik from Dushanbe, where he participated in the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers. The flight will take over eight hours, but negotiations with Blinken will take place immediately after arrival, as too many issues have accumulated that require immediate resolution. Lavrov will hold other bilateral meetings Thursday.
Both sides stated the necessity to take the bilateral dialogue from the current crisis. According to the Department of State spokesman Ned Price, Washington expects that this meeting will become an attempt to bring the relations on a more stable and predictable track or at least will show, whether it could be possible.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov claimed that "a reset 2.0 is out of the question." Meanwhile, Lavrov admitted that he expects a professional talk with his American counterpart, which will clarify "the US’s specific intention" regarding Russia, as well as Washington’s position on issues that involve Moscow’s interests in one way or another.
The two diplomats are also expected to discuss the meeting between the two presidents. According to Ryabkov, Moscow and Washington "will need some more time before anything could be announced."
"My colleagues and I, we are ready to join the discussion of all aspects of the [summit’s] agenda, as soon as our American colleagues are ready," the Deputy Foreign Minister added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists earlier that the topic of the presidential summit "is currently being discussed and analyzed," adding that no agreements have been achieved yet.