The second round of consultations between the US and Russian delegations concluded in Istanbul on April 10. The American side was represented by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Sonata Coulter, while the Russian side was represented by the Director of the North Atlantic Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Darchiev.
This is reported by Kyiv24
The first meeting in this format took place on February 27, following an agreement between the US Secretary of State and his Russian counterpart. During the recent meeting, the parties continued the dialogue initiated in February, exchanging notes to finalize an agreement on the stability of diplomatic banking services for their missions.
US Concerns Regarding Employment
The US expressed concerns about Russia’s policy that prohibits the employment of local staff in diplomatic missions. This aspect was identified by the American side as a major obstacle to maintaining a stable workforce at the US Embassy in Moscow.
The Future of Diplomatic Relations
The Russian side did not comment on the progress of the negotiations. US State Department spokesperson Tami Bruce noted that the delegations plan to resume talks on normalizing the operations of their diplomatic missions. She also emphasized that no political or security issues would be discussed, and the war in Ukraine would “absolutely” not be on the agenda.
It is worth recalling that on February 18, the first official negotiations between Washington and Moscow took place in Riyadh following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In February, the teams held meetings in Istanbul, attempting to restore the normal functioning of their embassies, which became the first test of both countries’ ability to reset broader relations.