Lavrov, Tillerson discuss Syria, Ukraine, North Korea, situation around Russian media - Russian foreign ministry

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/. Issues related to the situation in Syria, Ukraine and North Korea, and around Russian media and diplomats in the United States were in focus of a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the sidelines of a meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna, the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday. Syria and Ukraine Lavrov and Tillerson discussed further steps to put an end to the civil conflict in Syria via establishing "a sustainable negotiating process involving all Syrian political forces, including within the Geneva process and in the format of the forthcoming National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, with concurrent completion of the defeat of international terrorist groups," the ministry said. "Lavrov stressed that only the Syrian have the right to determine their future. Syria’s state sovereignty and territorial integrity must be strictly observed." "When the sided discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine, the Russian side noted that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements of February 12, 2015 and stressed the necessity of their strict implementation by the Kiev authorities," the ministry said. Situation on Korean Peninsula The Russian and US top diplomats also expressed common opinion that Pyongyang must strictly obey by the United Nations Security Council resolutions. "Lavrov once again stressed the inadmissibility of escalation on tension as a result of the United States’ military preparations near the Korean Peninsula and its aggressive rhetoric," the ministry said. "He called to resume responsible work on the resolution of the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear problem exclusively by diplomatic methods." A new round of tension around North Korea spiraled on November 29 when Pyongyang conducted a missile launch, the first one since September 15. According to North Korea’s KCNA news agency, a Hwasong-15 new-type missile covered a distance of 950 kilometers in a span of 53 minutes rising to an altitude of 4,475 kilometers. According to Japan’s defense ministry, the missile fell down some 250 kilometers of the northern Aomori Prefecture. On December 4, South Korea’s and the United States’ air forces launched the biggest-ever joint drills Vigilant Ace 18 on the Korean Peninsula. In response, the North Korean foreign ministry condemned these drills saying that the United States’ campaign on demonizing North Korea was a step towards warfare while North Korea was pursuing "a legitimate and fair goal through reinforcing its nuclear means of deterrence." Pressure on mass media and diplomats Apart from that, Lavrov and Tillerson focused attention on issues of the bilateral agenda, including the situation around Russian media and diplomats in the United States. "Lavrov pointed to the inadmissibility of pressure on Russian media and diplomats in the United States, including the US special services’ recruitment attempts," the ministry said. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that US special services were putting serious pressure on Russian journalists and also were trying to recruit them. "Apart from the legislative pressure, the country’s authorities actively use less formal but in their view, apparently more effective methods," Zakharova stressed. "Lately, representatives of Russian mass media, including in the US, have come under severe pressure of US special services, which also attempted to recruit them." On November 29, Chair of the Executive Committee of the Congressional Radio and Television Correspondents’ Galleries Craig Caplan, said that the committee "exercised its authority, as garnered by the rules of House of Senate, to withdraw the news credentials of the RT Network by unanimous vote on November 21, 2017." "This action was taken in response to the registration of RT Networks’ operating company, T&R Productions, LLC (T&R), as a foreign agent," he added. Read more