Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that he'd had a "decent talk" with his US counterpart Marco Rubio on the sidelines of a G20 summit in the United States.
"Yes, we had a decent talk, though a short one, because for understandable reasons he has a lot of duties as the host," Lavrov told reporters on Friday after meeting the secretary of state.
Lavrov's presence at the two-day meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, had sparked tensions among European countries but underscored warming US-Russia ties.
The minister said that he appreciated the position of President Donald Trump's administration, calling it the only Western country so far to recognise the "root causes" of Russia's conflict with Ukraine.
He praised Washington's readiness to engage with Moscow, while lashing out at Europeans for their "arrogant boycott."
Russia has been shunned by most of the West after Ukraine war started, and Lavrov himself remains under international sanctions.
Early Friday, plans for a traditional family photo of G20 ministers were called off as some European officials objected to appearing alongside Lavrov.
500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine
Lavrov's comments also come shortly before a new round of negotiations between Moscow, Kiev and Washington scheduled for next month.
He told reporters that the talks in Abu Dhabi "will take place."
But he took aim at Ukraine, saying that its push to get more long-range missiles was not creating a "helpful" atmosphere for talks.
Potentially complicating the upcoming meeting, the US State Department announced Friday afternoon that it had green-lit the sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
Lavrov also blamed the "outrageous activity of Europeans" for pushing back on previous US proposals — backed by Russia — towards ending the Ukraine war.
"We were talking about the big geopolitical crisis, including Ukraine, and we were able to address Sergei Lavrov head-on with this," Kaja Kallas told AFP news agency. "Of course, he put forward a lot of lies, a lot of false narratives that we were also able to then rebuke."
