US climate envoy seeks Russia's cooperation

John Kerry, the US president's special envoy for climate, on Monday called for the United States and Russia to cooperate on efforts against climate change as he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

The US and Russia, as leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, must act together on climate change, Kerry told Lavrov, adding that he wanted to set out some proposals to get the two countries working together.

Kerry, who is in Russia until Thursday, is scheduled to hold talks with Russian officials on climate change.

Kerry told Lavrov that Washington wanted to work with Moscow ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in the British city of Glasgow this year. Lavrov added that Russia was keen for this cooperation too.

The foreign minister, who is also the climate envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he viewed Kerry's visit as a positive signal for bilateral relations and that Russia was hoping for close cooperation on climate issues before the Glasgow meeting, scheduled to be held later this year.

"I consider your visit to be an important and positive sign for the development of bilateral relations, for a reduction in tensions, and for the establishment of professional substantive work in those areas where we can find common denominators," Lavrov said.

Kerry noted that Washington is glad that Putin took part in a virtual summit on climate hosted by the White House in April, and that the administration of US President Joe Biden believes that a summit between Biden and Putin in Geneva last month was constructive.

Kerry did not reveal the US proposals that he flagged in the meeting with Lavrov.

'Critical' decision

"The deal is to be able to deal with the climate issue separately. It's too important, too significant, and we very much need to move together," Kerry said.

"We are among that small group of 20 nations that is the equivalent of 80 percent of all emissions. What we do, what we decide to do is critical."

He underscored that the cooperation between Washington and Moscow on climate must develop despite their disagreements.

Lavrov said: "Russia attaches great importance to problems associated with global climate change and will continue to cooperate on climate issues on international platforms, primarily with parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change."

Putin and Biden singled out climate change as one of the few issues on which Washington and Moscow could cooperate when they held their summit.