[Trump says he has “nothing to do” with Russia. The Obama administration extended the U.S. sanctions at the end of December. Here, too, the Russian foreign minister faulted the Obama administration, saying Washington had “destroyed” all bilateral efforts. While he heaped scorn on the Obama administration, he said he had a friendly relationship with outgoing Secretary of State John F. Kerry and hoped it would continue. Russia has invited the incoming Trump administration to Syrian peace talks it is sponsoring later this month with Turkey and Iran, part of a process from which the Obama administration pointedly has been excluded.

Source: Washington Post January 17, 2017 09:23 UTC