WASHINGTON, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - The United States and Russia have a lot of areas, open for mutual cooperation despite the disagreement on the Ukrainian crisis, and it is up to Moscow now to determine further steps of its contribution to the fight against the Islamic State (IS), the spokesperson for the US Department of State said.
"We think we can work together on issues even when there are some we disagree on," Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the US State Department said during the press briefing on Wednesday. "ISIL was at discussion during the meeting [of US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov], but certainly it's Russia's decision to make about what other contributions would be," Psaki added.
Psaki noted that there have been a range of conversations over the course of the last eight months to a year, despite the countries' different positions on the situation in Ukraine. She stressed, however, that Ukraine is the main disagreement between the two countries.
"Ukraine was an issue that was discussed at length during the meeting," she said, noting that Kerry pressed in particular on need for the full implementation of all of the 12 points of the September 5 Minsk agreement. "He also emphasized that only through legitimate elections in Ukraine, and through additional steps that Russia needs to take, can we return to a place where we have some agreement on the issue," Psaki added.
"The fact is though we have disagreement on that, and we are hoping to get to the area of more agreement, but there are still areas where we can work together," she concluded.
On Tuesday, following the talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States and Russia can overcome their differences on Ukraine and cooperate in the fight against IS militants in Iraq and Syria. He also announced that Washington and Moscow have agreed to share intelligence on the IS.
Sergei Lavrov has also noted that the two countries could be more effective in their joint efforts on a number of global issues, including the fight against terrorism and the Ebola virus.
Relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated significantly amid the crisis in Ukraine, as Western politicians and media have repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and aiding independence supporters in the country's southeast. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Over the past few months, the United States and a number of its allies introduced several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia. The sanctions particularly target the country's banking, defense and energy sectors.
