US administration officials have confirmed NBC's report that several retired US foreign policy diplomats have tried to create an informal, alternative way of negotiating with Russia in the last month. They met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York in April. According to NBC, the White House was aware of the contacts but did not initiate or support them.
John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council attached to the US President's office, said this in an interview with CBS.
"I would like to emphasize, however, that we did not encourage these negotiations, we did not initiate them, and we did not actively support them," added Kirby.
