The outcome of several international crises will depend on decisions made by the Trump administration, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Jan. 20 for his second, albeit non-consecutive, four-year term in office.
“A lot depends on the United States,” Lavrov said at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council held only hours before Trump’s inauguration in Washington.
According to Moscow’s top diplomat, several key allies of Washington—including Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand—are all “completely guided by the position of the White House.”
“In this sense, they are waiting to see what its final position will be,” Lavrov said.
He added that “numerous conflicts,” including the ongoing war in Ukraine, would likely be impacted by decisions taken by Trump and his administration.
“The global media and social networks have been flooded with news from Washington, coinciding with the arrival of Trump and his team in the [U.S.] capital,” Lavrov said, according to the Kremlin’s transcript of the meeting.
“Speculation, analytical assessments, and forecasts are also intensifying regarding how this event [Trump’s inauguration] may influence various conflicts across different regions of the world.”
At the same Security Council meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on becoming the 47th president of the United States.
Putin also voiced hope of holding talks with Trump to reach a permanent settlement of the war in Ukraine, which will enter its third year next month.
“Moscow is open for dialogue with the United States that will be built on an equal and mutually respectful basis,” the Russian leader said.
Eliminating the conflict’s “root causes,” he added, “is the most essential thing.”
Trump has pledged to quickly resolve the conflict in Ukraine, although it remains unclear how he plans to do so.
Earlier this month, Trump told a meeting of U.S. Republican state governors that Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up.”
Upon his return to the Oval Office, where he signed a raft of executive orders, Trump said on Jan. 20 that he could speak to his Russian counterpart “very soon.”
When asked by reporters the following day if any arrangements had been made for a phone call between the two leaders, a Kremlin spokesman said, “Not yet.”
‘Bold Actions’
In a related development, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund appeared to praise Trump, saying the latter’s raft of executive orders showed “decisive leadership.”
The executive orders, which Trump signed within hours of his inauguration, aim to increase U.S. energy production, curb illegal immigration, and reverse the previous administration’s climate agenda, among other agendas.
“President Trump’s bold actions today prove that decisive leadership can change the course of history, unlocking economic growth and transforming global challenges into opportunities for dialogue,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said on Jan. 21.
A U.S.-educated former Goldman Sachs banker, Dmitriev helped establish contacts between Russian officials and Trump during the latter’s first term in the White House.
Dmitriev is currently subject to U.S.-led sanctions, which Moscow regards as illegal and politically driven.
The RDIF has not indicated whether Dmitriev would play a role in future contacts between Moscow and the Trump administration.
According to the Kremlin, Dmitriev met Putin on Jan. 13—a week before Trump’s inauguration—to discuss the RDIF’s investment portfolio, which is currently valued at 2.3 trillion rubles ($22.53 billion).
