Moscow - Saba:
During the Russian-American summit, the focus will be on moving towards normalizing relations and finding solutions to pressing problems, including the Ukrainian crisis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said on Saturday.
"The issues and questions remain the same," Sergei Ryabkov added. "If we put them in general terms, they concern starting to move towards normalizing relations between our countries, finding ways to resolve the most acute and extremely dangerous situations, of which there are many, including Ukraine," according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Ryabkov stated that Russia is ready to talk with the United States, saying: "We are carefully recording and analyzing all signals coming from Washington, especially signals from the first person there. I must say that the tone of the contacts that took place in recent days was completely different from what happened in the past. We welcome this change in tone from the American side and are ready for fruitful practical dialogue and its continuation. But to what extent the change in tone and nature of statements can be translated into practical actions, and especially how quickly this can happen, is an open question for me. New contacts are needed to verify this."
Ryabkov noted that Russia's demands are clear and specific from the leadership, and were raised during the very fruitful meeting in Riyadh.
Ryabkov touched on the subject of the personal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, and stated that "work is already underway in this area, but it requires intensive work. The agreement on the meeting must be preceded by intensive preparatory work, and this work has already begun. The discussions in Riyadh constitute an important link and an important element in this work, which is still in its early stages."
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