"The Syrian conflict can only be settled by the Syrians themselves. In this regard, we reiterate our calls on our western and regional partners to abandon attempts of geopolitical engineering in this region, respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and work together to help achieve the main goal of life becoming peaceful again in this country," Lavrov told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Russia expects that US President-elect Donald Trump’s future foreign policy team will take practical steps to normalize bilateral relations and continue fighting terrorism, Lavrov told the Italian newspaper.
Lavrov continued in saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump confirmed in a telephone conversation their readiness to work together to improve bilateral ties and settle current issues, including international terrorism.
"We hope that the foreign policy team of the new president, which is being formed now, will take practical steps in this direction, and cooperation with it will be constructive," he said.
In light of Trump’s business background, Russia and the US have an opportunity to improve their cooperation in trade, investment, and technological innovation, Lavrov noted. "We are interested in expanding cultural and humanitarian exchanges, contacts between people," Lavrov said during the interview.
