WASHINGTON, December 18. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov will meet for talks on Monday with US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon, according to the press service of the US Department of State.

"Under Secretary Shannon will attend a working luncheon with Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, in Washington, DC," the statement from the US Department of State said.

The meeting begins at 12:30 local time and will be closed for press coverage, the statement added.

Antonov earlier said that contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump demonstrate how significant the cooperation between Russia and the United States is.

Speaking at the reception in Washington dedicated to the 210th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Russia and the United States, Antonov recalled a telephone conversation between Putin and Trump on December 17, when the Russian president thanked the US leader for CIA information that helped arrest terrorists, who had plotted bomb attacks in St. Petersburg’s Kazan Cathedral and in other crowded places in Russia’s second largest city.

"This is obviously a positive example of what our countries can achieve by working together," Antonov said.

The Russian diplomat added that this was a second telephone conversation between the Russian and American presidents over the past week.

"These contacts prove that our countries need each other," he said. "Our countries define the joint program of actions to strengthen the global security."

"Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stated that we have numerous tasks, which we can settle more effectively than we do now by joining our efforts," Antonov said adding that "everything is in the interests of the people of Russia and the United States."

"With the increasing turbulence and conflict potential in global affairs, the overcoming of differences and the search for points of contact of interests are absolutely necessary for the fight against modern challenges and threats," he said.

"First of all, it concerns an unprecedented surge of the international terrorism," Antonov said adding that "this issue is constantly in the focus of bilateral contacts at the supreme level."