US Assistant Secretary's Visit to Moscow Begins with Dumplings

On May 17, the American Ambassador to Moscow John Tefft treated Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to his favorite dish - dumplings with sour cream. The diplomats had lunch at one of the Moscow cafes.

On the US diplomatic representation page on Twitter, photographs appeared where satisfied Nuland and Tefft savor the traditional Russian dish.

Tefft recently admitted his love for dumplings, answering questions from Russian social network users. “I just had lunch, but, unfortunately, my favorite Russian dumplings with sour cream were not on the menu!” he wrote on Facebook at the time.

The official program of the visit of Nuland to the Russian capital will begin tomorrow, 18 May.

Earlier, the head of the press service of the US State Department, Jen Psaki, said that her immediate boss, US Secretary of State John Kerry, loves sweets.

At the very end of the briefing, Psaki was asked what was in the usual plastic bag with the logo of the Safeway grocery supermarket that the secretary of state carried with him when he went to Egypt late last week. “Well, I’ll tell you a secret. He has a love for sweets. So I don't know, maybe there were cookies in there. I can check,” Psaki said. The bag also may have contained cupcakes, she said. “I’ll see if I can confirm this for you. But I don’t think there was anything more interesting,” she added with a smile.

“US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland will travel to Russia on Sunday to discuss the situation in Ukraine, the State Department said,” p.Ishit RIA News.

“Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland will visit Russia May 17-18 and meet with senior Russian officials to discuss next steps to implement the Minsk agreements,” the State Department said.

“She will also discuss bilateral issues with Russian officials and meet with representatives of civil society,” the State Department said.

Nuland 14-16 May was in Kiev, and 12 May was accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who met in Sochi with the president Of Russia Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.