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The meeting in Istanbul will focus on “systemic problems” in Moscow-Washington relations, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said
A Russian delegation has arrived for new talks with the US in Istanbul, Türkiye, according to media reports and a video from the scene. The negotiations mark the second time this month that diplomats from Moscow and Washington are holding in-person dialogue.
The upcoming closed-door meeting in Istanbul was confirmed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday, although he did not provide details on the composition of Moscow’s negotiating team.
He noted, however, that “our diplomats, high-level experts will meet [with their US counterparts] and examine the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the illegal activities of the previous [US] administration to create artificial obstacles to the activities of the Russian embassy,” for which Moscow retaliated in kind.
Lavrov also suggested that the talks would show “how quickly and effectively the sides can move.”
On Thursday, several Russian media outlets released a brief clip of a Mercedes minibus with tinted windows and a diplomatic license plate pulling up to a heavily guarded compound in Istanbul. According to TASS, the talks are taking place at the residence of the US consul general.
The Istanbul negotiations come after top Russian and US diplomats convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the first high-level talks between the two nations since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict three years ago.
READ MORE:
Rebuilding ties, restoring peace: Key takeaways from Russia-US talks
The primary focus of the meeting was to pave the way for normalizing economic and diplomatic ties and settling the Ukraine conflict. The sides also agreed in principle to restore embassy staffing after years of tit-for-tat cuts fueled by geopolitical tensions, although no concrete steps have been announced so far.
Over the past few years, Istanbul has played an important role as a neutral venue for negotiations related to the Ukraine conflict, most notably direct talks between Moscow and Kiev in 2022.
According to Russian officials, the peace process was making progress at the time, but was derailed by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who allegedly advised Ukraine to continue fighting, a charge he has denied.
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