NEW YORK. Sept 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the nuclear problems of Iran and North Korea at a meeting in New York.
Lavrov said at a meeting with political experts and analysts at the Council on Foreign Relations that, "because of the disagreements on the Caucasus, we should not suspend our cooperation in important areas."
"It is absolutely clear that pragmatism in our relations supercede the emotions that broke out following Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia," he said.
Considering that the U.S. has a number of issues on which it wants to cooperate with Russia and a number of issues on which it does not want to, Lavrov said, the West should understand that it cannot simultaneously try to punish Russia and cooperate with it.
Iran's nuclear program is under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s scrutiny, and it "has not found Iran guilty" so far, Lavrov said. The examination of Iran's nuclear program should continue under IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei's guidance, he said.
Taking questions from Council on Foreign Relations experts, Lavrov flatly denied suggestions that Russia is suffering isolation on the world arena. "Such talk reflects the logic of a unipolar world," he said.
"I have never received as many requests for meetings as I have received during the current UN General Assembly session. Interest in knowing Russia's opinion in the world is huge," he said.