The Latest: Diplomat scoffs at ‘noise’ of Russian meddling

russian-diplomat
russian-diplomat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Washington visit of Russian’s top diplomat for meetings with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (all times local):

12:10 p.m.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (SEHR’-gay LAHV’-rahf) says it’s “humiliating” for the American people to hear that Russia is controlling the political situation in the United States.

Lavrov is speaking at the Russian Embassy in Washington after meetings with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Lavrov says American politicians who are raising questions about Russian interference in the 2016 election are damaging the U.S. political system by suggesting it’s being controlled by outsiders.

He’s brushing off the questions as “noise” about Russians’ contacts with people in Trump’s campaign. He says through a translator that “there is not a single fact” or piece of compelling evidence proving Russia’s intervention in the election.

Lavrov notes that Trump dismisses the matter as “false news.”

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10:15 a.m. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is at the White House to meet with President Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat did not speak to reporters and as he walked into a side entrance Wednesday morning.

His Oval Office meeting with the president comes one day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

A Russian plan to stabilize Syria after more than six years of civil war was the most urgent foreign policy topic on the Trump-Lavrov agenda.

Earlier, Lavrov stopped at the State Department to see Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said the get-together was a chance for the two to continue the conversation they started last month in Moscow.

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9:30 a.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says Moscow isn’t concerned about the firing of the FBI director.

Dmitry Peskov says Russia hopes that President Donald Trump’s decision to fire the FBI’s James Comey won’t affect U.S.-Russia ties “in any way.”

Peskov calls it “an entirely domestic matter” for the United States.

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9 a.m.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has thanked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (SEHR’-gay LAHV’-rahf) for coming to Washington for talks with U.S. officials.

Tillerson and Lavrov are meeting at the State Department, and then Lavrov heads to the White House to see President Donald Trump.

Tillerson says his meeting with Lavrov is a chance for the two diplomats to “continue our dialogue” and “exchange of views” that they started last month in Moscow. During that trip, Tillerson said relations with Russia were at a low and needed to be rebuilt.

Expected to be on Wednesday’s agenda are Syria, Ukraine and other issues.

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3:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump has scheduled a White House meeting for late Wednesday morning with Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat.

His meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (SEHR’-gay LAHV’-rahf) will be the highest level contact with Russia of his presidency.

It also will be a sign that the two countries have improved ties. Trump recently described relations as being at an “all-time low.”

A Russian plan to stabilize Syria after more than six years of civil war is the most urgent foreign policy topic on the agenda.

But the meeting will be impossible to separate from the Trump administration’s unfolding political drama amid investigations into possible election-year collusion between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin.