Russia’s foreign minister meets his US counterpart amid FBI controversy
Washington — Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met US secretary of state Rex Tillerson on Wednesday ahead of rare Oval Office talks with Donald Trump, whose firing of his Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief again put the spotlight on Moscow’s alleged meddling in last year’s US election. On Tuesday, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey, who was leading a probe into whether the Republican billionaire’s campaign aides colluded with Russian officials to sway the November presidential election. After talks with Tillerson, Lavrov was due to head to the White House to meet Trump, whose shock dismissal of Comey was seen by Democrats as an assault on an investigation that could have sweeping repercussions for his administration. The uproar seemed certain to complicate Lavrov’s mission in search of US support for a Russian plan to create safe zones in war-wracked Syria. "I want to welcome the foreign minister to the state department and express my appreciation for him making ...
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