Donald Trump to host Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

US President Donald Trump is set to host Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the White House on Wednesdy (10 May).

Both White House and Russian foreign ministry have confirmed the meeting. This will be first face-to-face highest-level contact between the Russian government and the US since Trump became the president. A range of issues including Syrian conflict, bilateral matters and other global issues are expected to be discussed.

"Yes, it's true, a meeting with the U.S. President is in the program," a Russian foreign ministry official told the news agency Tass without revealing any of the particulars of the scheduled meeting.

The high-level meeting between the president and Lavrov takes place against the backdrop of spiralling allegations that Russia had interfered in the US presidential elections tilting the democratic process in favour of Trump.

Interestingly, the meeting also comes a day after the sacking of FBI chief James Comey, who was spearheading the probe whether the Trump campaign advisers colluded with Moscow to manoeuvre the election outcome.

Lavrov, who landed in Washington on Tuesday, is also scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and attend the Arctic Council meeting.

The Russian foreign minister's visit to the US will continue until May 11.

Lavrov's visit is happening at a time when the US-Russia relations have taken a serious blow over Washington's surprise strikes on an airfield in Syria – the regime which is backed by Russia.