Russia and the United States have agreed to establish a bilateral economic working group, in addition to ongoing military-political talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview with Al Arabiya.

“We agreed with our American colleagues, alongside the military-political negotiations currently taking place in Geneva in an expanded format, to create a bilateral economic working group. Within this group, we will discuss all these issues. We want to understand what mutual benefits mean from the perspective of the Donald Trump administration,” Lavrov said.

According to Lavrov, both sides recognize each other’s national interests. Where interests align, “we should leverage them and implement projects”; where they do not, “we must prevent them from degrading into confrontation, especially into open conflict.”

Lavrov described relations with the U.S. under Trump as “pragmatic,” but noted that sanctions against LUKOIL and Rosneft were announced “completely unexpectedly.” He also highlighted inconsistencies in Washington’s words and actions, which, on one hand, seek to push Moscow out of global energy markets, and on the other, call for resolving the Ukrainian conflict and “starting mutually beneficial cooperation.”

“Trump has repeatedly stated publicly that this is not his war, but Joe Biden’s. He is trying to end it as soon as possible. This is well known. But this war has already come to the forefront of global issues. Therefore, it must be ‘taken off the road,’ after which we will implement mutually beneficial projects,” Lavrov said.