Russia wants Trump administration at Syria talks

International Desk: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration should be invited to take part in Syria peace talks on Jan. 23, taking a parting shot at the Obama administration.

Mr. Lavrov said he hoped the talks, which will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan, would be more productive under Mr. Trump than they have been under President Barack Obama.

“It is totally possible to breathe new life into these [peace talk] mechanisms, considering that the new U.S. administration says it aims to fight terrorism in earnest, unlike [the administration] before it,” he told reporters in an annual question-and-answer session with the Russian and international press.

The Syria peace process stalled in recent months, as U.S. officials found themselves sidelined by an emboldened Russia, which helped the Syrian forces of President Bashar al-Assad recapture the key city of Aleppo.

An earlier cease-fire deal reached between Mr. Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry collapsed, and diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington have come under severe strain amid accusations that the Russian government orchestrated cyberattacks to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The State Department last month expelled 35 suspected Russian intelligence officers and their families and notified Moscow that it would deny access to two recreational compounds used by Russian diplomats in the U.S.

The expulsions followed what the U.S. government described as escalating Russian harassment of U.S. diplomats, including police stops and physical assault. In his remarks Tuesday, Mr. Lavrov countered by claiming U.S. intelligence agents had stepped up efforts to recruit Russian diplomats.

“We do not publicize the full statistics on this, but over the past few years, especially during the second term of the Obama administration, such unfriendly activity against our diplomats has been growing,” he said.

According to Mr. Lavrov, the Americans took what he described as the “unprecedented” effort to recruit a serving as the second-highest ranking diplomat in an embassy, and attempted to lure another diplomat by placing $10,000 in an empty vehicle with an offer of cooperation.

“That money has been registered with our accounting department, and it is now working for the benefit of the Russian state,” he said.

The Russian government has welcomed the change in administration in Washington, with officials saying they expect a reboot in relations with the U.S.

However, in response to comments by Mr. Trump in which he appeared to suggest that Washington could negotiate with Moscow to reduce nuclear weapons in return for eliminating economic sanctions against Russia, Mr. Lavrov said he “did not see a proposal to disarm in exchange for removing sanctions” in Mr. Trump’s remarks.

Mr. Lavrov also said media reports that advisers to Mr. Trump are organizing a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Iceland weren’t true.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/Dhaka/Jan 17, 2017/A K Azad