Russian Embassy suggests Twitter for communicating with U.S.

March 9 (UPI) -- After a communication breakdown this week with the U.S. State Department, the Russian Embassy in Washington proposed using Twitter for diplomatic correspondence.

Nick Lakhonin, the Russian embassy's press secretary, suggested the initiative on Twitter Friday to State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. The idea was proposed after unsuccessful attempts to set up a meeting between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Ethiopia this week.

'@statedeptspox, Twitter seems to be more reliable & quicker communication channel (under your gov control) on urgent issues. We are ready to share copies of our "formal invitations" via DM. Provided you start following @RusEmbUSA.
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Let our ministers meet!

- Nick Lakhonin (@RusEmbUSApress) March 9, 2018

Lavrov also rejected claims from the State Department that no discussions were made concerning the meeting.

Despite Russian diplomats insisting they sent a request for the meeting, U.S. officials repeatedly denied receiving such a request.

During a State Department briefing Tuesday when Nauert was asked about the meeting, she denied Russia's statement about sending the request.

"Look, we have -- our relationship with Russia is not at a point where it looks like it is going to be normalized anytime soon. I can tell you we have not received an invitation or a call or anything to meet with the Russians while the secretary is on his trip in Africa, and I'll leave it at that," Nauert said.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed the two top diplomats would not be meeting in Ethiopia, according to the state-run Tass news agency.