Russian, U.S. diplomats meet in Istanbul for second round of talks
The Hindu
Russian and U.S. diplomats discuss normalizing embassy operations after years of expulsions and tensions, aiming for improved relations.
Russian and U.S. diplomats met in Istanbul on Thursday (February 27, 2025) to discuss normalising the operation of their respective embassies after years expelling each others' diplomats.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks followed an understanding reached during President Donald Trump's call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and contact between senior Russian and U.S. diplomats and other officials in Saudi Arabia.
During Thursday's Federal Security Service meeting, Mr. Putin hailed the Trump administration's "pragmatism and realistic view” compared with what he described as the “stereotypes and messianic ideological cliches” of its predecessors.
“The first contacts with the new U.S. administration encourage certain hopes,” Mr. Putin said. “There is a mutual readiness to work to restore relations and gradually solve a colossal amount of systemic strategic problems in the global architecture.”
Mr. Putin said that “part of Western elites are still determined to maintain global instability” and could try to “disrupt or compromise the dialogue that has begun," adding that Russian diplomats and security agencies should focus their efforts on thwarting such attempts.
In Riyadh, Moscow and Washington agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties. That includes restoring staffing at embassies, which in recent years were hit hard by mutual expulsions of large numbers of diplomats, closures of offices, and other restrictions.
A U.S. Embassy official in Ankara confirmed that the Istanbul talks focused on the issues affecting the operation of respective diplomatic missions.
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