MANILA (Sputnik) — Moscow assumes that "the contacts between the US State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry on the issues of cybersecurity would be useful," Lavrov said, adding that Russia is open to such contacts.
"We discussed our cooperation in other areas. We reminded of the understandings reached during the meeting of presidents of Russia and the United States [Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump] in Hamburg, including on the need to establish cooperation in cybersecurity, the fight against cybercrimes, preventing cybercrimes, as well as the issues regarding our contacts on various international issues. North Korea and the nuclear problem of the Korean peninsula was one of the key topics, as well," Lavrov told reporters after his meeting with Tillerson on the sidelines of ASEAN forum.
He added that Moscow assumes that "the contacts between the US State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry on the issues of cybersecurity would be useful," stating that Russia is open to such contacts.
On Sunday, Trump said on Twitter that he was not sure, whether the joint US-Russian cybersecurity group he discussed with Putin might really be set up. However, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Trump "fully" supported the idea during negotiations with Putin.
Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the two countries' presidents did not promise anything to each other on this issue, they only said they were ready to work jointly in that direction.