Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced the Trump administration’s desire for improved relations with Russia ahead of high-level meetings in the country, including with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pompeo noted that the two sides have worked cooperatively on issues like counterterrorism in the past and expressed hope that the two nations can « get our teams and begin to build out a common set of understandings » on arms control and nonproliferation. He added that he was sure there would be « frank discussions » and « places where we just can’t find common ground. »
« We’ve worked closely with you on the counterterrorism in my time in the executive branch, very successfully, » he said. « We’ve saved American lives, we’ve saved Russian lives as a result of that good, honest, sincere work together. »
« I hope this good faith effort on the part of our two nations that is directed by President Trump and President Putin will stabilize the relationship and put it back on a trajectory that I think will be good not only for each of our two countries, our two peoples, but for the world as well, » Pompeo said.
