Tillerson Meets Lavrov in First High Level Meeting Since Sanctions

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met yesterday for the first time since the US imposed sanctions last week that Russia said ended hopes for better ties. Tillerson and Lavrov met at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forum in Manila, an international summit of Asian diplomats. It marked the first time high level officials of Russia and the United States came together following the White House’s sanctions on Russia and the Kremlin’s retaliatory limits on US diplomatic presence in the country. “We felt the readiness of our US colleagues to continue dialogue. I think there’s no alternative to that,” the Russian Foreign Minister said following the over hour long meeting. According to NBC news, Tillerson and Lavrov’s talks showed a willingness of the two countries to cooperate on bilateral issues despite rising tensions, fueled by comments by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who on Wednesday wrote in Facebook statement that the United States’ sanctions on Russia were a “declaration of a full-fledged economic war” and ended hopes for improving relations between the countries.