30 June 2017•Update: 30 June 2017
By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA
An upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump in Germany will "clarify" interaction between the two countries, Russia’s foreign minister said on Friday.
"The relations between Russia and the U.S. are particularly important in the world today because it is up to these two countries to find solutions to many global and regional issues," Sergey Lavrov told the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow.
Lavrov claimed many countries were concerned by "abnormal" relations between Russia and the U.S.
Backing rival sides in the Syrian war and ongoing U.S. inquires into alleged Russian interference in 2016’s presidential election have further soured relations.
"We hope that the upcoming meeting [between Putin and Trump] in Hamburg will clarify interaction between Russia and the U.S.," Lavrov added.
The first face-to-face meeting between the two presidents will come during a G20 summit in the German city on July 7 and 8.
Lavrov believed a "pragmatic" approach would prevail after the meeting.
Also addressing the forum was former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who said tensions between the two nations were not a rare event but added problems between Russia and the U.S. needed to be settled by negotiation.
Kissinger, who met Putin on Thursday according to the Kremlin, also warned a nuclear conflict between the two countries would be a "disaster" for humanity.
