Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S. withdrawal from the working group on civil society is a choice made by the United States and Russia cannot influence it.

"U.S. representatives told us they have made a decision to stop the work of this working group, but we learned about it from some public comments. They didn't notify us about it on paper, we were told about this from Department of State officials," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow.

"If the Americans have lost interest in such a direct channel, it's their choice. We can do nothing about it, we can't make them keep this group if they are no longer interested in it," Lavrov said.

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