WASHINGTON, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry will hold talks in Paris next week, the US Department of State confirmed Wednesday in its press release.
"On October 12, Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Cairo to participate in an international conference for Gaza reconstruction… Secretary Kerry will then travel to Paris to meet with French Foreign Minister [Laurent] Fabius, Russian Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov, as well as other partners," the US Department of State said.
US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said earlier that Washington was expecting a Kerry-Lavrov meeting "in near future."
On October 3, Lavrov and Kerry have discussed the situation in Ukraine in a phone conversation. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two Foreign Ministers have agreed to continue "intense contacts" for further discussions of important issues on the international and bilateral agenda.
The relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated amid the Ukrainian crisis, as Washington blamed Moscow for meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs.
Over the past few months, the US has introduced several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia, and persuaded its allies to add Russian companies and individuals to their own blacklists.
