Lavrov sure RF, US presidents will still meet

Russian Minister of Foreign Affaris Sergei Lavov told Kommersant in an interview published on Monday that he is confident that a meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States will still be held. "We are realists and we proceed from the assumption that emotion are still a transient thing," Lavrov pointed out. "Snowden or no Snowden, grievances, real and imaginary -- all are transitory while awareness of the strategic importance of relations between Russi aand the US for international stability remains intact". "We feel that the present leadership of the USA is well aware of that," the Minister emphasized. "Our relationship is much larger, deeper and wider than some grievances which, incidentally, are natural for any person". "Yes, periodic misunderstandings do occur in our dialogue but almost every time they are solvable and do not have an irreversible effect on the common vector of the development of our cooperation," he said. "Prevailing in this respect is the understanding of the importance of our interaction, especially that on the most acute problems of our time -- such as terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction". Lavrov also drew attention to how quickly Moscow and Washington were "brought together by the task of solving the problem of chemical weapons in Syria to prevent them from getting into the hands of terrorists and bandits, which would have unpredictable consequences". "On the other hand, there are moments of fleeting positive ups," he went on to say. "I do not want to say that sucn an up is now happening. This is an important aspect of our positive cooperation on key problems of the present-day world. Nevertheless, I cannot say that one-off, at times outward betterments of relations are sure to bring about stability in the long term". "It (stability) can be brought about by an in-depth, trust-based dialogue and especially by the buildig of an economic foundation," the Minister explained. "This is what our presidents agreed upon when they first met at Los Cabos last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit, prioritizing the task of laying emphasis on the economy". "Unfortunately, it (the idea) has not received a serious substantiation so far," Lavrov said. "Within the framework of the would-have-been visit by (Barack) Obama to Moscow on the eve of the G20 summit in St Petersburg, a robust meeting of the two presidents with the business leaders of Russia and the US had been planned out. During such a meeting it was expected that a roadmap with specific goals would be discussed. I am confident that such a meeting will still be held". Lavrov recalled that during the presidents' meeting at Lough Erne resort in June this year, Obama said that the Russia-US relations are the most important bilateral ones in the world. This has been reiterated by John Kerry as well. "This is why we feel that the Americans are seemningly aware of the importance of our interaction," the RF Foreign Minister stressed. "We are ready for that absolutely as much as Washington is prepared for that. It is a pity that the said visit has not bee made and that it was postponed. It was prepared very well and prospective accords were specified". According to Lavrov, "They (those accords) will not get away." "They are already being signed -- both on additional areas of cooperation in thef ield of nuclear security and on many other matters," the Ministerpointed out.