OREANDA-NEWS. April 16, 2009. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov received on April 15a US Congress delegation led by Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman Carl Levin.

A thorough exchange of views took place on topical issues in Russian-American relations and on key international issues. High marks were given to the April 1 meeting of the Russian and US presidents held in London on the sidelines of the G20 summit. The interlocutors emphasized the positive tonality of the leaders’ conversation and noted the importance of their joint declarations on talks on further strategic offensive arms cuts and on the general framework of Russian-US relations.

Special attention was paid to missile defense-related themes. The situation surrounding Iran’s nuclear program also was discussed in the light of the well-known six-power proposals and of the Barack Obama administration’s willingness for direct talks with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran.