MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Russia and the United States have found consensus on cyberattacks on US companies JBS and Colonial Pipeline, and it can contribute to developing dialogue in this area, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"In the end, a consensus was found in both cases, although earlier our Western partners had objections. I have reasons to hope that this will help to develop bilateral dialogue. But the most important thing is to conduct the dialogue professionally, and not for show," he noted.
The minister stressed that Russia does not abandon its attempts to set up a dialogue in the cybersphere with its US partners. "We do not stop trying. In September last year, President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin issued a statement on how we would see US-Russian cooperation in developing a comprehensive program of measures to restore cooperation in this area," Lavrov added.
Lavrov said he hopes that Russia’s proposal will be substantively discussed at the summit of the presidents of Russia and the United States on June 16 in Geneva.
In early May, attackers from the DarkSide group hacked into the systems of American pipeline company Colonial Pipeline. According to US intelligence services, DarkSide may be based on the territory of Russia or Eastern Europe but is not associated with any government. The attack on computer networks of American meat processing company JBS was carried out on May 31. According to the White House press service, the company believes that a criminal organization, allegedly located in Russia, is behind the attack.