Press Releases: Readout of Secretary Tillerson’s Phone Call With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

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Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

December 27, 2017


The following is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke yesterday by phone.

The two discussed concerns related to the DPRK’s destabilizing nuclear program and emphasized that neither the United States nor Russia accepts the DPRK as a nuclear power. Both sides agreed that they will continue to work toward a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula. On Syria, they discussed the importance of supporting the Geneva process to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Syrian conflict as called for in the Joint Statement made by Presidents Trump and Putin in DaNang, Vietnam. Underscoring the U.S. concern with the rising violence in eastern Ukraine, the Secretary requested that Russia return its representatives to the Joint Center on Coordination and Control and lower the level of violence.