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Lavrov, Tillerson to meet amid fresh Russia-U.S. tensions

Xinhua, February 15, 2017 Adjust font size:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Bonn, Germany on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The top diplomats are expected to meet for the first time on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers' meeting, the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing.

Lavrov and Tillerson will possibly discuss bilateral and regional issues, said Zakharova.

Zakharova declined to disclose whether the two sides will discuss the Crimea issue, but she stressed that "We do not devolve our territory."

The long-anticipated talk comes as a spurt of incidents have added uncertainty to the proposed reestablishment of Russia-U.S. ties, including the resignation of U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on Monday over his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

On Tuesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a briefing that U.S. President Donald Trump expects the Russian government "to de-escalate violence in Ukraine and return Crimea."

In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Crimea's return to Ukraine was not discussed and will not be discussed.

U.S. media reported earlier this week that Russia had secretly deployed a ground-based nuclear cruise missile in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) signed by top leaders of the two countries in 1987.

Peskov denied the accusation, saying that "Russia was and remains committed to its international obligations, including the INF agreement."

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied the Pentagon's claim that Russian aircraft flew close to a U.S. destroyer in the Black Sea last week.

U.S. media also reported that a Russian spy ship was spotted patrolling in international waters off the U.S. east coast on Tuesday morning, fanning fresh Russophobia in Washington.

Certain circles with an anti-Russian agenda are ratcheting up pressure on Trump, said Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the upper house of Russia's parliament. Endi