Lavrov spoke to Russian news agencies after talks in Laos with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited Moscow earlier this month.
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Kerry told reporters Tuesday he brought the matter up with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a meeting in Laos and explained that the FBI was investigating.
“My hope is that somewhere in early August we would be in a position to stand up in front of you and tell you what we’re able to do with the hopes it can make a difference to lives of people in Syria and to the course of the war”, Kerry told a news conference in the capital Vientiane.
Despite Russia being clear from the start in Syria they were keen to target both ISIS and Nusra, and offering from the start to share intelligence with the United States, many U.S. officials insist the deal s secretly some sort of trick by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We had hoped that they would promote a political solution and transition to put an end to the civil war which is the beginning of all this violence in Syria”, Carter said referring to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
But “they’re a long way from doing that”, Carter stressed.
Lavrov brushed aside the accusations at the start of his meeting with Kerry, saying: “I don’t want to use four-letter words”. And I think that would be a good thing if they did. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we got together with Russian Federation and knocked the hell out of [Islamic State]?”
Kerry has defended the proposal despite deep skepticism among top American military and intelligence officials, including Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, over working with Russian Federation.
US President Barack Obama has insisted on keeping dialogue with Moscow open on Syria, Kerry has said.
Many U.S. officials are concerned that sharing intelligence with Russian Federation could risk revealing U.S. intelligence sources, methods and capabilities.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford said Monday, “we’re not entering into a transaction that’s founded on trust”.
The proposal, which Kerry hopes to conclude within weeks, envisions ways in which Washington and Moscow would share intelligence to coordinate air strikes against the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and prohibit the Syrian air force from attacking moderate rebel groups.
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Dunford denied reports that USA -backed opposition forces have coordinated with Nusra in some cases.
