30 March 2017, 13:18 GMT
ARKHANGELSK (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, said that Russia was ready to discuss the issue of counterterrorism in case Tillerson pays a visit to the country.
"We are hopeful that in the next two weeks we'll have a visit by our secretary of state… I didn't confirm [the meeting]. I said I hope that we will have it. Wait for the announcement — it hasn't been made yet — either by state department or foreign ministry," Tefft said on the sidelines of the International Arctic Forum, adding that "there's a lot of of issues there that the White House has to study and work out."
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said no specific data for Tillerson’s visit has been set yet.
Last week, a State Department spokesperson told Sputnik that Tillerson planned to travel to Russia in April, following media reports which indicated April 12 as the date of his visit.
