One important man is Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, who met with his US counterpart Rex Tillerson and President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Relations between the two former Cold War foes soured under former president Barack Obama over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its unyielding support for Assad. Lavrov called it a US decision, echoing Putin, who said Russian Federation had nothing to do with Comey's dismissal.
Trump said the Comey firing did not affect his meeting with Lavrov.
"We had a very good conversation with Minister Lavrov",- quote the media.
But their meeting was impossible to separate from the Trump administration's unfolding political drama in Washington, where FBI and congressional investigations are looking into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin related to the 2016 election.
Before meeting with Tillerson, the Russian diplomat refused to weigh in on Trump's decision to fire James Comey, the former FBI director, who had been overseeing investigations of alleged Russian interference in the USA election and possible collusion by Trump's campaign. The Russian "had to go through the same screening as a member of the USA press going through the main gate to the (White House) briefing room", a senior administration official said.
In contrast, he credited Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom he met earlier in the day, with taking a "businesslike" approach that is "free from ideology", focused on reaching agreements.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson welcomes Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for a meeting in Washington on May 10.
In an interview last week, Trump once again refused to blame Russian Federation for attempting to influence the 2016 election through hacking and other means, despite an overwhelming consensus by USA law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
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Indeed, it is only by virtue of Falcinelli’s prowess in the final third that Crotone still remains in contention to survive. In Romelu Lukaku, Koeman has a player with the capability of firing Everton to far headier heights than seventh place.
At Wednesday's meeting, Trump emphasised the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, underscoring the need for Russian Federation to "rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies".
"We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency", a Trump administration official told the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.
Apparently President Trump can't even scream at his TV set without somebody leaking it to reporters, so it's little surprise to learn that Trump is polling confidantes about whether he should fire White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
The FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that most of the emails with classified information were not because of the forwarded emails. But many question whether the dismissal had anything to do with Comey being in charge of the investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russian Federation.
Lavrov, Russia's top diplomat, is an interesting figure in Putin's government.
A Russian plan to stabilize Syria after more than six years of civil war was the most urgent foreign policy topic on the Trump-Lavrov agenda.
"James Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the Federal Bureau of Investigation", he wrote.
"Neither of us brought up this bacchanalia", Lavrov said.
"This week (Scherbak) was assigned by Tass editorial to cover Lavrov's visit in Washington, D.C. and was the only picture reporter in the pool of Russian reporters accompanying minister in his trip to U.S". The continued fighting between rebels and Assad's military has complicated US efforts to defeat IS.
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