Russian foreign minister tells US to behave 'like grown-ups

[Star Wars]

Sergei Lavrov chided the US administration two days after President Barack Obama scrapped a summit with Mr Putin when Russia granted asylum to Edward Snowden, the fugitive US spy.

"We need to work as grown-ups," he told a press conference in Washington alongside John Kerry, the US Secretary of State. "This is what we do. And we hope that this will be reciprocal".

Mr Obama reacted furiously this week to Russia's approval of temporary asylum for Mr Snowden, a National Security Agency contractor who gave secret documents to the media.

Accusing Moscow of a "slip back into Cold War thinking", the president pulled out of a planned bilateral meeting with Mr Putin in Moscow before the G20 summit in St Petersburg next month.

Mr Lavrov and Sergei Shoygu, the Russian defence minister, kept to a scheduled visit to the US capital yesterday for meetings with Mr Kerry and Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary.

Mr Kerry, who aides said would renew the American demand for Mr Snowden's return, admitted: "It's no secret we have experienced some challenging moments, and not just over the Snowden case."

A senior foreign ministry official told Russian state media yesterday the Kremlin saw "no topic for discussion" on Mr Snowden as the decision to grant him asylum had already been made.

Accusing the US of "blowing the situation out of proportion," Sergei Ryabkov insisted Moscow had no choice but to protect Mr Snowden from a potential death penalty in the US.

Conceding the two states at times have "colliding and conflicting interests", Mr Kerry yesterday tried to salvage scraps of co-operation on issues such as the Syrian civil war and missile defence.

"Sergei Lavrov and I are old hockey players, and we both know that diplomacy, like hockey, can sometimes result in the occasional collision," he told the press conference before their meeting.

Mr Kerry claimed that despite sharp differences in views on the conflict, the US and Russia agreed that to avoid "descent into chaos, the ultimate answer is a negotiated political solution".

"Syria indeed is at the top of our agenda," Mr Lavrov added. "The goal is the same: we need to start a political process."

The growing humanitarian crisis in Syria was also at the centre of discussions between Mr Shoygu and Mr Hagel, who warned in remarks at the State Department of the need for the two powers to resolve a "combustible" situation.

Russia refuses to join the international condemnation of President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has led a brutal crackdown of opposition forces and civilians, killing tens of thousands.

Moscow, which maintains military links to the Syrian regime, insists the main cause of conflict is an influx of Islamist fighters from across the region intent on destabilising the regime.

Mr Lavrov yesterday called for a new international summit on the conflict at which world leaders should join Russia's efforts to "fight terrorists and force them away from Syria".

Russia also remains opposed to US plans to install missile defences in eastern Europe, despite Washington's announcement in March that one system planned for Poland would be scrapped.

The US remains determined to install elements of its defence shield – which it claims is designed primarily for protection from Iran – in Poland and Romania by 2018.

Mr Ryabkov said yesterday that US concessions so far were "categorically insufficient" in proving that the American missile defence system was not "targeted against Russia".

Mr Obama was due last night to address relations with Russia, the Syrian crisis and other issues in his first solo press conference at the White House in almost four months.

Russian foreign minister tells US to behave 'like grown-ups' - Telegraph

Oh wow......