Putin, top security officials discuss Russia-US relations ahead of Trump-Lavrov meeting

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and permanent members of the Russian Security Council have discussed the Russian-US relations, the settlement in Syria and Russian domestic issues, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "The issue of bilateral Russian-US relations was raised at the meeting in light of the contacts between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and American counterparts planned later today," Peskov said. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov who has arrived in the United States for a three-day visit will hold talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday. Russia’s top diplomat will also be received by US President Donald Trump. After that, Lavrov will travel to Alaska where he will take part in the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council on May 11. The schedule of Lavrov’s upcoming meetings in Washington is similar to Tillerson’s schedule in Moscow on April 12. At that time the US top diplomat held talks with his Russian counterpart, after which both of them were received by the Russian president. Syrian settlement Peskov noted that the Syrian settlement issue had been raised at the meeting as well. "An exchange of views took place on the progress in establishing the de-escalation zones in Syria in light of the relevant agreement reached at a meeting in Astana," he said. Last week, the Russian, Iranian and Turkish delegations had reached an agreement on establishing four de-escalation zones in Syria during the talks in Astana. These zones include the Idlib province, some parts of the neighboring Aleppo, Latakia and Hama provinces, the area north of Homs, East Ghouta and Syria’s southern provinces of Daraa and Quneitra. Under the agreement, a ban on military operations, including aviation flights, has been imposed in these de-escalation zones as of May 6. The memorandum is to be in force for six months with the possibility of automatic extension for the same period. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, as of Wednesday, the situation in the de-escalation zones is stable. In addition to that, three agreements on joining the cessation of hostilities have been signed with Syria’s settlements over the past 24 hours. The number of populated localities that have joined the reconciliation process has grown to 1,495. The Russian division of the joint Russian-Turkish commission dealing with issues related to ceasefire violations, has registered 12 breaches in the Damascus, Latakia and Hama provinces over the past 24 hours. The Turkish officers have registered eight violations. Russian domestic issues Peskov added that Russian domestic issues had been raised at the meeting as well. "The current Russian domestic issues were discussed too," he said without providing further details. Taking part in the meeting were Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speakers of the two houses of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matviyenko and Vyacheslav Volodin, Kremlin Chief of Staff Anton Vaino, Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Director of the Russian Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin and Russian Presidential Envoy for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergey Ivanov. Read more