Russian, US diplomats to meet in Istanbul to discuss operation of embassies

Doha, Feb 26 (AP) Diplomats from Russia and the United States will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the operation of their respective embassies, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Wednesday.

The meeting comes on the heels of Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia last week, which marked an extraordinary shift in US foreign policy under President Donald Trump and a clear departure from US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine. At the talks, Moscow and Washington agreed to start working toward ending the war and improving their diplomatic and economic ties.

That included restoring the staffing at the embassies, which in recent years were hit hard by mutual expulsions of large number of diplomats and other restrictions. Prior to Trump's second administration, ties between Moscow and Washington had fallen to Cold War lows after Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022.

No Ukrainian officials were present at last week's talks, but the Kremlin insisted that the meeting was about restoring relations and dialogue with the United States, something it said would pave the way for the eventual peace talks.

Speaking to journalists while on a visit to Qatar on Wednesday, Lavrov said that “diplomats of high level experts” will meet in Istanbul on Thursday.

He said they will discuss “the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the unlawful activities of the previous (US) administration to create artificial obstacles for the work of the Russian embassy, “to which we, naturally, reciprocated and also created uncomfortable conditions for the work of the American embassy in Moscow.” Lavrov added that based on the outcome of the meeting, “it will be clear how quickly and effectively we can move forward.” (AP) NPK NPK

Source: PTI