Russian Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov said on Tuesday, May 12, that US President Barack Obama conveyed greetings to Vladimir Putin through US Secretary of State John Kerry, who held talks with the Russian leader in Sochi, TASS reports .

Ushakov clarified that the American leader did not convey any written message to Putin. The issue of a bilateral meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States was also not discussed at the negotiations.

The presidential aide added that the negotiations between Putin and Kerry were long, open, quite friendly and of a business nature. In general, the Kremlin regarded Putin’s contact with Kerry as positive. Ushakov noted that although this is not a breakthrough, the first signs have appeared between the parties that they should return to cooperation.

According to him, the Russian President and the US Secretary of State discussed the Iranian nuclear program and the situation in the Middle East in Sochi. “An exchange of views took place on the Middle East, Iran, naturally, Syria, Yemen. Some issues from the disarmament sphere were also discussed , quotes ” Interfax the presidential aide. He also noted that the negotiations also touched on North Korean issues.

According to Ushakov, the parties paid the most significant attention during the negotiations to the situation in Ukraine. Putin and Kerry discussed various options for closer work at the bilateral level on this topic, but the possibility of the United States joining the Normandy format was not considered.

Ushakov also said that at the meeting Putin invited the US Secretary of State to try Krasnodar wine “Abrau-Durso”, RIA Novosti reports . “I offered Abrau-Durso champagne, I tried it,” said the presidential aide, adding that the second part of the conversation between Putin and Kerry took place in an informal atmosphere.

The meeting between Putin and Kerry, which also included Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, lasted four hours, while it was originally planned to take about an hour and a half. After the first hour and a half of the meeting, the head of the State Department posted on Twitter that the negotiations were “frank” , and their topics included, among other things, Iran, Syria and Ukraine.

Before arriving at the residence of the Russian president, Bocharov Ruchei, Kerry held talks with Lavrov. The Russian minister said that his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry went “wonderfully.” Following the negotiations, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry presented his American colleague with Krasnodar tomatoes and potatoes, as well as a T-shirt with the symbols of the Victory.

John Kerry took over as US Secretary of State in February 2013 and since then has visited Russia only once - in May 2013. Then he held negotiations in Moscow with Sergei Lavrov. Kerry's second visit to Russia was repeatedly postponed. In particular, he was going to fly to Moscow for negotiations with Sergei Lavrov in February 2015, but at the last moment the visit was canceled.

Obama sent greetings to Putin through Kerry