Lavrov to meet Pompeo after Helsinki summit

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, back to a camera, listens to U.S. Sen.

"We agreed to choose a date and place right after the meeting of our presidents in Helsinki to find ways for the realizations of goals which will be hopefully set at this summit", Lavrov added.

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a delegation of US lawmakers he hoped their visit to Moscow would help restore relations between the two legislatures, Interfax news agency reported. "Perhaps not a utopia - I'm still looking for the utopia in the world - but a better day", Shelby told Russian's lower house speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Tuesday.

"We come here realizing that we have a strained relationship, but we could have a better relationship between the USA and Russian Federation, because we have some common interests around the world that we could hopefully work together on", Shelby told Lavrov at the start of their meeting.

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Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, Putin's spokesman told reporters there were hopes of "repairing and expanding the bilateral dialogue" between the two countries. "We could be competitors - we are competitors - but we don't necessarily need to be adversaries".

During their phone call, Pompeo and Lavrov also discussed issues related to Syria and North Korea, said the State Department. "We will have to wait and see".

Peskov's comments come a week after, Putin told USA national security adviser John Bolton that Russian-American relations "were not in the best shape", during a meeting in Moscow, according to Russia's TASS news agency. Relations have been marred by multiple contentious issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and some in the United States accusing Russian Federation of meddling in their presidential elections.