Lavrov’s visit, confirmed by the White House late Tuesday, centers on a Russian proposal to de-escalate the violence in Syria’s civil war. He first holds talks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and then goes on to the White House to meet Trump. Lavrov, who last set foot in Washington in August 2013, would be the highest ranking Russian official to meet with Trump since he took office. Relations between the two former Cold War foes soured under former president Barack Obama over Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its unyielding support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Since March 2011 the Syrian conflict has caused more than 320,000 deaths and forced millions of refugees to flee.

Source: Manila Times May 10, 2017 06:00 UTC