Russia agrees to re-open various communication channels with U.S.: RIA

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said he and his U.S. counterpart John Bolton had broadly agreed to re-open communication lines between their respective foreign and defense ministries, the RIA news agency reported on Thursday. U.S. National Security Adviser Bolton and Patrushev met on Thursday in Geneva in the first high-level meeting of its kind since the Russian and U.S. presidents held talks in Helsinki in July. Patrushev, who also said a broad agreement on restarting contacts between the two countries' army chiefs-of-staff had been reached, said he had invited Bolton and U.S. officials to Russia for future talks, but said no date had been agreed for a follow-up meeting, RIA reported. The pair discussed Syria, Ukraine, cyber-security and nuclear issues, Patrushev was quoted as saying, adding Bolton had not leveled any allegations against Russia. (Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Andrew Osborn)