Trump voices desire to resolve disagreements with Moscow

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump emphasized on Wednesday his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia, the White House said.

Trump, meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington, raised the possibility of broader cooperation on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, the White House said in a statement.

The meeting came amid tensions between the US and Russia as the two countries hold differences on several issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of NATO.

Trump, who has expressed hopes of repairing relations with Moscow, said last month the US was “not getting along with Russia at all” and the relations between the two countries “may be at an all-time low”.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, underscoring the need for Russia to “rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies”.

After Trump ordered missile strikes on a Syrian air base last month in response to the Syrian government’s suspected use of chemical weapons, the Russian government condemned the action, calling Washington’s move “aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law”.

On Ukraine, Trump expressed his administration’ s commitment to remain engaged in resolving the conflict and stressed Russia’s responsibility to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

The US, along with some European allies, imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia in response to what they called the annexation of Crimea and destabilizing activities in eastern Ukraine.

After the meeting, Lavrov told reporters Trump confirmed his interest in building “mutually beneficial” relations with Russia.

Earlier in the day, Lavrov had talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a range of issues, including Ukraine, Syria and bilateral concerns.