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Lavrov-Tillerson meeting request sent to Department of State on March 2 — Russian embassy

"We have tried to get a meaningful response several times, but, alas, to no avail so far," the Russian embassy said

© REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. Moscow sent a request to the US Department of State on a possible meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 2, the Russian Embassy in the United States said.

The statement was made in response to US Secretary of State Heather Nauert’s remark, who told reporters on Tuesday that the Department of State has received no proposal from Russia on the issue so far.

"Normally, we do not comment on working procedures to prepare purely diplomatic meetings. However, because US Department of State Spokesperson H. Nauert distorted the reality again, we have to state that a request for a meeting between S.V. Lavrov and R. Tillerson was sent to the Department of State on March 2," the embassy said on its Facebook page.

"We have tried to get a meaningful response several times, but, alas, to no avail so far," the statement reads.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryablov said on Monday that Moscow has suggested that a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson be organized in Ethiopia. "Such a meeting would be useful. The number of issues that we need to discuss has been growing," he said.

"We have made a suggestion and now we are waiting for the US to respond," the Russian diplomat added.

Lavrov is currently on a tour of African countries. He is planned to visit Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, where he will be on March 9.

On March 6-13, Tillerson is expected to tour the African countries of Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria, which would be his first visit to the continent as US Secretary of State. Tillerson particularly plans to discuss cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

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