Kerry, Hagel and Russians Will Meet on Issues Imperiling Obama-Putin Visit
Source: NYTimes
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: August 6, 2013
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plan to meet here in Washington with their Russian counterparts on Friday for a day of talks that could determine the fate of a September summit meeting between President Obama and the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin.
State Department officials on Tuesday afternoon confirmed the meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergei K. Shoigu, the defense minister. Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said the four officials would discuss “a number of pressing bilateral and global issues.”
“There’s a lot to discuss,” Ms. Psaki said. “A lot of issues we work together on. I expect those to be the thrust of the conversation.”
Russian officials sounded a similar theme.
“We expect a very intensive discussion, all the more so because there are quite a few sharp, controversial and difficult questions,” Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister, said Tuesday.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/world/europe/kerry-and-hagel-to-meet-russian-officials-in-washington.html