BFF-05 Pompeo to meet with Russia’s top diplomat Lavrov at UN

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BFF-05

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Pompeo to meet with Russia’s top diplomat Lavrov at UN

NEW YORK, Sept 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will
on Friday meet with top Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of
the United Nations General Assembly, the state department announced Sunday.

The two envoys last met in mid-May in Sochi, Russia.

Since then, Washington and Moscow abandoned their 1987 Intermediate
Nuclear Forces treaty, which limited the use of nuclear and conventional
medium-range weapons.

The treaty’s end has heightened fears of a renewed arms race between the
US and Russia, even as President Donald Trump expressed his desire for better
relations with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

But ties remain tense, and Trump administration officials regularly
criticize Moscow for its policies, particularly towards Ukraine and Syria.

A senior US official said Washington intends to use the annual meeting at
UN headquarters in New York to counter “malign influence by autocratic
states,” in particular Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria and China.

The INF banned the use of land-based missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500
kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles).

BSS/AFP/MSY/0926 hrs