ATLANTA /US/, October 31. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s participation in the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta offered an opportunity to maintain engagement with Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a press conference following the gathering in Atlanta, Georgia.
"How can you talk to both Russia and Ukraine unless you interact with them? And so I think today is just one more opportunity to continue to interact with the Russian system," Rubio said. "The president [of the US Donald Trump] does not view meeting with someone or talking to someone as legitimizing everything they do or everything they stand for."
"How can you do a deal unless you're meeting with them, unless you're talking to them, unless you're interacting with them?" he asked, referring to efforts to settle the Ukraine conflict.
Rubio also pointed to the country’s nuclear arsenal. "Russia possesses a large number of nuclear weapons. Perhaps people don't remember that, but we would remind you that I think it is important, no matter what. Putting everything else aside, it is always important that the United States and Russia have communications at some level, because of the danger of escalation in the future," he said.
He also stressed the need to communicate with the Russian side and invite its representatives to forums where they could hear not only from the US but potentially from other countries as well.
