Consultations of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu with US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel in the two plus two format

In accordance with the agreements reached during the meeting of the Russian and US Presidents on the June 17, on the side-lines of the G8 summit in Lough Erne, joint consultations of the heads of the foreign services and the defence services of Russia and the United States took place in Washington on the August 9.
A broad range of issues of strategic stability and international security were discussed. Special attention was devoted to the problems of missile defence, which remain one of the serious irritants in bilateral relations. An agreement was reached to continue the expert dialogue on Anti-Ballistic Missiles, for the purposes of finding mutually acceptable solutions in the context of supporting strategic stability, whilst taking into account all the factors affecting it. The prospects of further interaction in the area of arms control, security of outer space activities and non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction were discussed in detail.
There was an exchange of opinions on acute regional problems. As to Syria, mutual interest was confirmed in the implementation of the agreements reached earlier, about holding the international conference on the political settlement of the internal Syrian conflict (“Geneva-2”). In addition to all this, the situation in Afghanistan in the context of the forthcoming withdrawal of international forces from the country, the International Security Assistance Force, the problems of the Korean Peninsula and Iran’s Nuclear Programme were also discussed.
Separate meetings of the heads of the foreign services and the defence services of Russia and the United States were held on the same day.
Sergey Shoigu and Chuck Hagel substantially reviewed topical issues of bilateral cooperation in the military arena.
Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry reviewed the topical problems on the bilateral agenda, including the tasks of stimulating trade, economic and investment cooperation, continuation of the activity of the Russian-American Presidential Commission, advancement of cultural exchanges, as well as the situation around the provision of temporary asylum to Edward Snowden in Russia and the problems we keep having with the enforcement of rights of Russian nationals in the United States. Mutual understanding of the need to deepen the constructive and trustworthy dialogue at all levels, in the interests of progressive development on equal and mutually beneficial levels in all areas was confirmed.