FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference at the Russian Embassy in Washington, U.S., December 10, 2019. REUTERS/Al Drago/File Photo
December 22, 2019
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump had sent a short letter about the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Interfax news agency reported.
“U.S. President Donald Trump sent a short letter in which he said that they are ready to continue looking for ways to overcome the problems in our relations,” Interfax cited the minister as saying on a TV talk show.
The letter was in response to Putin’s offer to introduce a moratorium on the development of missiles banned by the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, Interfax cited Lavrov as saying.
The U.S. formally left the INF treaty with Russia in August after determining that Moscow was violating the treaty and had already deployed one banned type of missile, an accusation the Kremlin denies.
(Reporting by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Catherine Evans)
