Now we're returning to the first topic of the program. At this moment, US President National Security Advisor John Bolton is giving a press conference on the result of his visit to Moscow.
Our correspondent Denis Davydov is online with Vesti studio.
- Hello, Denis. What statements has Bolton declared?
- Good evening, Ernest. To begin with, such press conferences when foreign officials come to Moscow happen quite rarely. Including American officials.
But Bolton holds such conferences on a regular basis when he visits Moscow. He was in Interfax in 2001 informing Russia and journalists on President Bush's decision to withdraw from the ABM Treaty. His current visit is going amidst talks on the possible US withdrawal from the INF Treaty. But I'll talk about that a little bit later. This topic was touched upon at the meeting between Bolton and Vladimir Putin which took place in the Kremlin less than an hour ago. The talks with the Russian leader were more than 1.5 hours long. Most of them were behind closed doors.
Now Bolton has said he's satisfied with the meeting. He called the talks with Vladimir Putin productive. Either way, the dialogue between Washington and Moscow is ongoing despite the tension. For instance, the two presidents, Putin and Trump, are meeting in Paris in a few days. Their meeting is symbolically timed to the end of World War I.
During these two days, besides meeting Putin, Bolton also met with Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. Let's listen to what they have agreed upon.
John Bolton: "Over the past two days, I've had very comprehensive talks with the leadership of Russia. We've decided to simplify and increase coordination between Moscow and Washington on actions in Syria. In addition, Russia and the USA will cooperate in the fight against terrorism at the level of deputy heads of the foreign ministries. The first meeting is to be in December".
We talk about the mutual sanctions between Moscow and Washington all the time. Today Bolton has met with the American business community that works in Russia. They agreed that in January of next year, there will be a business council between the business communities of Russia and the USA. Returning to the possible US withdrawal from the INF Treaty, here's what John Bolton had to say on the topic.
John Bolton: "The situation with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is very important. Trump talked about it on Saturday and yesterday. Our decision is related to the violations perpetrated by Russia. We think that Russia doesn't adhere to the treaty but disagrees with our point of view".
- Thank you, Denis. We had Denis Davydov online who told us about the first statements of President Trump's National Security Advisor, John Bolton.
