Russian and US diplomats met in Turkey on Thursday for talks to resolve disputes over their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, a first test of their ability to reset wider relations and work towards ending the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin last year described relations as “below zero” under the administration of Joe Biden, who backed Ukraine with aid and weapons and imposed waves of sanctions on Russia to punish it for its invasion in 2022.
But his successor, President Donald Trump, has upended that policy and moved swiftly since taking office last month to open talks with Moscow, pledging to fulfil his repeated promise to bring a quick end to the war.
The talks in Istanbul follow a phone call between Trump and President Vladimir Putin on February 12 and a high-level diplomatic meeting in Saudi Arabia six days later.
The Russian team arrived in a black Mercedes van for the meeting at the gated residence of the US consul general in Istanbul.
Russian state TV said the talks were expected to last five to six hours.
Ukraine and its European allies are worried that Trump’s rapid rapprochement with Moscow could lead to a deal on ending the war that sidelines them and undermines their security.
Trump says he wants to end the bloodshed with an early ceasefire.
Putin this week tempered expectations of a quick deal, saying trust between Russia and the United States had to be rebuilt before anything could be achieved.
“No one expects solutions to come easily and quickly. The problem at hand is too complex and neglected,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters today.
“But with the two countries’ political will, with a willingness to hear and listen to each other, I think we will be able to get through this working process.”
Russia, US have downgraded ties over the past decade
Russia and the United States have expelled diplomats and limited the appointment of new staff at each other’s missions in tit-for-tat measures over the past decade, leaving their embassies thinly staffed.
The US State Department said today’s talks would cover issues such as staffing levels, visas and diplomatic banking.
“To be clear, there are no political or security issues on the agenda. Ukraine is not on the agenda,” a state department spokesperson said before the meeting.
“The constructiveness of these talks will become apparent very quickly; either issues will get resolved or they won’t. We will know soon if Russia is really willing to engage in good faith.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the outcome of the meeting “will show how quickly and effectively we can move”.
He acknowledged that Russia had “created uncomfortable conditions” for US diplomats in Moscow, in what he said was retaliation for Washington’s treatment of Russian diplomats.
Despite their narrow focus, the talks could eventually lead to progress over the whole Russia-US relationship in areas such as nuclear disarmament and economic cooperation.
Both sides see potential for lucrative business ventures. Putin said this week that Moscow would be ready to invite the US to enter joint projects to mine rare earth deposits in Russia and the parts of Ukraine that it has claimed as its own.
Peskov said there could be joint development of natural resources in the Arctic, though there were no substantive talks on this yet.
The US delegation in Istanbul was led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Sonata Coulter and the Russian team by Alexander Darchiyev, head of the foreign ministry’s North America department.
Darchiyev is seen as the front-runner to be Russia’s next ambassador to the US, a post that is currently vacant.
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