US trying to push Russia out of the global energy market: Russian FM

MOSCOW -- The United States is "trying to push us out of global energy markets," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

"The Trump administration announced sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft (Russian oil companies). After that came the announcement that the Americans demand India stop buying Russian oil. Then there was Venezuela," Lavrov said in an interview with the Al Arabiya TV channel on Wednesday.

"While the Americans are offering us to settle the conflict in Ukraine and begin mutually beneficial cooperation, they are trying to push us out of global energy markets," Lavrov said.

During the interview, Lavrov pointed to discrepancies between the United States' stated commitment to mutually beneficial cooperation and its actions in practice.

Russia is ready to discuss all relevant issues within the framework of the Russia-US bilateral working group on economic issues, hoping to thereby understand what the so-called "mutual benefit" means in the eyes of the Trump administration, said Lavrov.