"It was confirmed to the [US] secretary of state yesterday that we are ready to cooperate in all areas of mutual interest. In order for this cooperation to be productive, of course the bilateral domain must be tightened up," Ryabkov said.
He said both Moscow and Washington "firmly understand the fact that the logjams that have accumulated in the bilateral area need to be cleared up and liquidated."
"The specific parameters of the group's work, that is, its schedule, its agenda, have not yet been determined. A principled agreement was reached. As for the level, this level is quite high. Apparently, although this is not yet fully regulated, not agreed, this is the level of deputy foreign ministers, that is, a deputy minister from our side and an under secretary of state from the US side," Ryabkov said.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that he had agreed with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to allocate special representatives from the foreign affairs agencies of the two countries, who would analyze the differences between Moscow and Washington.
Ryabkov explained that there is still "the difficulty associated with the fact that appointments in the US administration are going rather slowly."
"But I think that in any case the final clarification of all these issues is not far off. The main thing is that there is a mutual understanding of the need for this," the deputy minister said.
Since 2014, relations between Russia and the United States deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. Washington and their allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions since Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 and over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia has repeatedly refuted the allegations, warning that the Western sanctions are counterproductive and undermine global stability.
