Lavrov: Ties with US on good track, Russia won't increase pressure on Iran

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Moscow is feeling a "cautious optimism" about relations with the United States under Barack Obama's administration, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a speech Saturday. Lavrov said that Russia and the US are going "in the right direction," but added that Moscow wouldn't discuss any trade-offs. He said that the Kremlin had no intention of raising pressure on Iran. Lavror told a group of political scholars that it will take time for Russia and the US to fully rebuild mutual trust that suffered during George W. Bush's administration. Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in London last week and ordered negotiators into immediate action on a treaty to further reduce nuclear weapons.