6 Aug 2018 17:54

Russian Federation Council members, U.S. senator discuss meeting at level of Russian, U.S. committees before end of 2018 - Kosachyov

MOSCOW. Aug 6 (Interfax) - Russian Federation Council members met with U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Monday and discussed the possibility of a meeting at the level of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the Russian Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee during this year's fall session, Foreign Affairs Committee head Konstantin Kosachyov said.

"Considering that Mr. Paul is a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, we paid special attention to contacts between the relevant foreign affairs committees and agreed on some particular scenarios toward developing this cooperation," Kosachyov told journalists on Monday.

"Certainly, Mr. Paul will have to discuss these ideas with his colleagues upon returning to Washington. But we are talking about the possibility of arranging new meetings at the level of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee as early as during the fall session, that is, before the end of this year," he said.

It is unclear whether this would happen before or after the midterm elections in November, he said.

"We have already exchanged opinions on the agenda that could be discussed at these meetings. I think there could be not just one, but several meetings. We're talking about facilitating the resumption of Russian-U.S. dialogue on strategic stability, arms control, and disarmament, the resumption of a working dialogue between the relevant ministries and agencies on opposing terrorism and cyber security," Kosachyov said.

In addition, the parties could discuss the development of trade and economic cooperation in the context of continued and toughened U.S. sanctions on Russia, he said.

"The schedule of our meetings has yet to be discussed, but it could also be made more specific in the near future," Kosachyov said.