Russia seeks to erase 'toxic legacy' in new talks with US
The talks will focus on restoring bilateral diplomatic relations, not the Ukraine conflict, officials said.
Diplomatic delegations from Russia and the United States met in Istanbul, Türkiye on April 10, to hold closed-door talks.
The Russian delegation was led by Alexandr Darchiev, Moscow's newly appointed ambassador to Washington. The US side was represented by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Sonata Coulter.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that the two sides are focusing on “removing many obstacles, including technical ones, that are complicating diplomatic work.”
According to Ambassador Darchiev, Moscow wants to eliminate the “toxic legacy of the previous US administration.” In particular, he stressed the need for a “serious discussion” on the return of diplomatic properties seized by the US – “a key condition” for restoring normal bilateral relations.
According to Mr. Darchiev, the issues of visa and financial restrictions, the freedom of movement of diplomats, form a “knot of problems”.
“Currently, Russian and US delegations are coordinating to untie this knot,” he said.
A short video released by Russian media on April 10 shows a car entering the gates of the Russian Consulate General in Istanbul.
“These talks are focused solely on the operations of our embassy, not on normalizing bilateral relations, which can only happen – as we have stressed – when there is peace between Russia and Ukraine,” US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters ahead of the meeting.
According to Bruce, the two sides did not intend to discuss any political or security issues, including the Ukraine conflict.
A source familiar with the matter told TASS that the meeting is expected to last a few hours longer, but could be shorter than the previous round of talks held on February 27.
The new talks come after US President Donald Trump has been actively promoting diplomacy with Russia, including diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the conflict in Ukraine. Thanks to that, Washington and Moscow have gradually restored communication channels - which were almost cut off for about three years under former US President Joe Biden.
