WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Olesya Manokhina — US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon told Sputnik on Wednesday that he would be happy to meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
"We have nothing planned, but I am always happy to meet with Sergei," Shannon stated at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "He is a good man."
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry Monday's statement after a telephone call between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart Rex Tillerson, both sides had expressed support for the continuation of dialogue on complex issues of the bilateral relations, which was carried out by Ryabkov and Shannon.
On August 31, the US State Department demanded that Moscow close down its Consulate General in San Francisco and two other diplomatic entities in New York City and Washington, DC by September 2. Russian officials and their families were ordered to leave. Moreover, the United States has collected diplomatic archive at the consular facility in California and sent it to the Embassy of the Russian Federation.
