Dates, venue for Lavrov-Rubio meeting not set - Russian deputy FM

MOSCOW. Oct 21 (Interfax) - There was no agreement on a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and it is inappropriate to say that this meeting has been postponed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

"What has not been agreed cannot be postponed. We do not confirm what some Western sources wrote yesterday. We never had any understanding as to when and where such contact could take place. It exists as an idea, certainly, all this is essential," Ryabkov told journalists in Moscow when asked to comment on the corresponding media reports.

"It requires preparation exactly because the significance of this event is very high. And we are working on it. The minister's phone conversation with the secretary of state yesterday was dedicated to it," he said.

It is still too early to speak about any schedule of a meeting between Lavrov and Rubio, Ryabkov said.

"The phone conversation between [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump last week included the issue of subsequent steps, among other topics. One of the aspects of such steps is of course Foreign Minister Lavrov's contact with Secretary of State Rubio. This contact took place yesterday," Ryabkov told journalists.

"We are now working on what the minister and the secretary of state discussed, but the issue of a meeting was not raised in any specific way either before the phone conversation or during the phone conversation yesterday. It exists as an idea, but it is premature to speak about its schedule. And, once again, any contact of such significance ought to be prepared properly, it requires carefully completing the 'homework' phase. This is what we are doing now," he said.