"Under Secretary for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon met today with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to follow up on recent conversations between Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, and to address the upcoming meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin," the release said.
Moreover, Shannon and Kislyak discussed an organization of another meeting between Shannon and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov, the US State Department added.
"Under Secretary Shannon and Ambassador Kislyak also discussed scheduling a new meeting between Under Secretary Shannon and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov, as well as ongoing efforts to address issues of mutual concern in our bilateral relationship," the department said after a meeting between Shannon and Kislayk.
Putin and Trump are expected to meet at the G20 summit in Hamburg on July 7-8.
Earlier on Monday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the meeting between the two countries’ leaders is of great importance for international security and bilateral relations that are now at a low level.
Ushakov noted that terrorism as well as the situation in Syria and Ukraine may be the topics of the Trump-Putin meeting. Besides, they may touch upon the topic of arms control and strategic security, he added.
