Russia firmly rejects new US sanctions, Lavrov tells Pompeo

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a telephone talk with his US counterpart, Michael Pompeo, on Friday, saying that Moscow strictly rejects new US sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Russia stated that it strictly rejected new sanctions Washington unveiled recently, citing Moscow’s alleged involvement in the so-called Skripal case,” according to the statement. Lavrov and Pompeo also agreed to continue dialogue on all issues of mutual interest to Moscow and Washington, TASS reports. The top diplomats “discussed a number of issues of the international agenda, including the situation in Syria, and other topics that were in focus of a meeting between the Russia and US presidents on July 16 in Helsinki,” the ministry said. The conversation was initiated by the US side.