US top diplomat to meet Russian president next week

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Russia this weekend to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top diplomat, the State Department said Friday.

Pompeo will depart Sunday and arrive in Moscow on Monday to meet with U.S. embassy staff and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremling Wall, according to spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.

He will meet Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi, Russia on Tuesday to "discuss the full range of bilateral and multilateral challenges," she added.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Putin last week in a discussion Trump characterized as "very productive," but the meeting comes amid severe differences between Washington and Moscow on a range of issues, including ongoing tumult in Syria and Venezuela, and disagreements about developments in the Arctic.