Afrasianet - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin were very fruitful, saying that "there is talk about relations between Russia and America and how we progress together, not personal matters."

"We talked very well," he told reporters after meeting with the Russian president in Sochi. "Putin (in the full discussion) clearly knows these issues very well and very widely, so we were able to move quickly to specific details in different relationships. "The meeting was very fruitful."

"He is really familiar with all the issues, so we were able to quickly get to concrete details and focus on minutes of different aspects of the relationship," he said on the plane after meeting Putin in Sochi. "It was really a very productive meeting."

Asked whether Putin's opinion had changed after the meeting, since he had already criticized the Russian president, Pompeo said: "This is about the relations between the United States and Russia, how we can move forward together. This was not a personal or "We are ready to defend our interests constantly ... They (Russians) are also doing their best to protect their interests in the same way."

The US Secretary of State visited Russia on Tuesday for the first time since his appointment, and was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin after concluding his talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Pompeo had previously met with his Russian counterpart in Rovaniemi, Finland, on May 7, on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Arctic Council countries. His visit to Russia came at the request of the American side.

Source: Interfax