US plays down Russian reports of chill in ties
WASHINGTON: The United States has played down Russian reports that already tense ties between the old foes have plunged to chilly new lows.
The State Department denied on Wednesday a Kremlin claim that communications are frozen, noting that Secretary of State John Kerry had called his Russian counterpart as recently as Tuesday. The Pentagon also noted that on the same day Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the claim, its officers had held a video conference with Russian commanders on how to stay out of each other’s way in Syria.
“Practically all levels of dialogue with the United States are frozen,” Peskov told Mir TV, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. “We don’t communicate with one another. Or we do so minimally,” he added, causing surprise in Washington.
“I don’t know exactly what to make of that comment,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “Obviously, we don’t agree and have issues with Russia on a variety of issues, but dialogue has not been broken.”
Kirby said Kerry had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday by telephone to hear about talks Russia had hosted with Iran and Turkey to seek a solution to the crisis in Syria.
“Look, there’s a lot of issues where dialogue and communications between the United States and Russia remain important, and for our part, we remain committed to that dialogue and that communication,” Kirby said.