US National Security Adviser Reveals Agenda of Upcoming Moscow Trip

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – US National Security Adviser John Bolton said his upcoming visit to Moscow was aimed at continuing Russian-US dialogue on the improvement of bilateral relations and issues facing them.

"I’ve got a trip coming up to Moscow and the Caucasus countries in about 10 days. The reason for that is to continue to carry through on the conversation that President Trump and President Putin had in Helsinki during the summer to talk about US-Russian relations and where we can make progress, where we still have issues and disagreement," Bolton said in an interview with the US Salem Radio Network, published on host Hugh Hewitt’s website on Friday.

The US authorities have not detected attempts to interfere in US domestic affairs on the part of Russia similar to what Washington allegedly saw in 2016, John Bolton said.

"So far, we don’t see the kind of Russian meddling we did in 2016. Chris Wray, the director of the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], said a couple weeks ago that that could change with the stroke of a key," Bolton said in an interview with the US Salem Radio Network, published on host Hugh Hewitt’s website on Friday.

Earlier that day, Bolton said that he planned to begin a trip to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Georgia on October 20. The national security adviser said he sought to meet his counterparts and other senior officials to promote US security interests during his trip.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, has said that the possibility of a meeting between Bolton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the former’s visit to Russia is being worked out.

Moreover, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Moscow was hopeful the upcoming meeting between Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Bolton in Russia would be productive.

READ MORE: Russian Envoy: US, Russia Must Revive Communication on Strategic Stability

The United States has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in the US internal affairs, particularly the 2016 US presidential election.

Russia has denied these allegations noting that the United States had provided no proof to support them. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that speculations about Russian meddling had been related to the US authorities' infighting and expressed hope Washington would discontinue its high-profile probe into Russia’s alleged interference in the US affairs.