Pushkov pledges help to McFaul in becoming genuine ambassador
Interfax - 6.1.12 - JRL 2012-100

MOSCOW. June 1 (Interfax) - Head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Pushkov has pledged his help to United States Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.

"Obama has decided to support McFaul by making him a member of the G20 delegation. But after Lavrov's statement it is clear that it is not Moscow who will have to get used to McFaul, but McFaul to Moscow. There is an advantage for him in this: we shall help him become a genuine ambassador," Pushkov wrote on Twitter on Friday.

Earlier McFaul spoke at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) and made a number of statements prompting a negative reaction from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

McFaul must draw conclusions from the situation that resulted from the U.S. diplomat's statements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a day earlier.

In his speech at the HSE the ambassador accused Russia of bribing Kyrgyz leaders to encourage them to close the U.S. Transit Center. Also, McFaul rebuked Russia for pursuing the policy of the spheres of influence and linking various international issues.

Following these claims by the U.S. ambassador, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement which said, in particular: "The expressed assessments of the cooperation between Russia and the U.S. in form go beyond the diplomatic etiquette, and in essence represent a deliberate distortion of a number of aspects of the U.S.-Russian dialogue."

Keywords: U.S.-Russian Relations - Russian News - Russia

MOSCOW. June 1 (Interfax) - Head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Pushkov has pledged his help to United States Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.

"Obama has decided to support McFaul by making him a member of the G20 delegation. But after Lavrov's statement it is clear that it is not Moscow who will have to get used to McFaul, but McFaul to Moscow. There is an advantage for him in this: we shall help him become a genuine ambassador," Pushkov wrote on Twitter on Friday.

Earlier McFaul spoke at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) and made a number of statements prompting a negative reaction from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

McFaul must draw conclusions from the situation that resulted from the U.S. diplomat's statements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a day earlier.

In his speech at the HSE the ambassador accused Russia of bribing Kyrgyz leaders to encourage them to close the U.S. Transit Center. Also, McFaul rebuked Russia for pursuing the policy of the spheres of influence and linking various international issues.

Following these claims by the U.S. ambassador, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement which said, in particular: "The expressed assessments of the cooperation between Russia and the U.S. in form go beyond the diplomatic etiquette, and in essence represent a deliberate distortion of a number of aspects of the U.S.-Russian dialogue."