MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. The United States is unlikely to introduce new sanctions against Moscow after Monday’s meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama in New York, Russian MP and political scientist Vyacheslav Nikonov has said.
- Russia, US agree to continue talks between foreign, defense ministers — Lavrov
- Putin says he respects President Obama and is always open for contacts
- Putin: Unilateral sanctions in bypassing UN Charter used to remove rivals on the market
- Senior Russian lawmaker links Russian-US coalition in Syria with sanctions softening
"The main outcome of this meeting [of Putin and Obama] is preventing the further deterioration of relations that was possible in principle," said Nikonov, who chairs the State Duma’s education committee and is a board member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.
"As we know, the US prepared and is preparing a package of tougher sanctions against Russia, but I believe that after this meeting the possibility of introducing this package is small," he said.
The talks of Putin and Obama on Monday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session lasted for over 1 hour and 40 minutes instead of 55 minutes as had been planned earlier.
This was the first formal one-on-one meeting of the two leaders since June 2013. The presidents earlier addressed the UN General Assembly. After the talks, Putin said the discussion was frank and showed that the two sides can work together on common problems.