According to the Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow sees that Washington is interested in the restoration of relations.
A date for a new round of Russia-US talks has not yet been set, but the parties are in constant contact, including on the issue of eliminating mutual irritants, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
According to the Russian diplomat, Moscow sees that Washington is interested in the restoration of relations.
Zakharova pointed out that two rounds of consultations on the so-called “irritant Russia-US” relations had already taken place, and a third was supposed to take place, but “the American side decided to postpone it.”
“I can say that, of course, all of the anticipated results were ruined, because during the rule of the Biden-Obama pack, a lot of things were wasted, so there were primary results, there were intermediate results, we managed to resolve some issues, but a lot more needs to be done,” she said.
“This is why, there is no definite date for consultations at the moment, but I can say that there is a dialogue still underway between the Russian Embassy in Washington and the US Department of State, and communications are also maintained here in Moscow, including on the topic of the so-called irritants and their removal,” Zakharova added.
She pointed out that Russia and the United States had never severed official diplomatic relations, until the administrations of Democratic presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama “resorted to all possible tools to ensure that, while maintaining formal mutual diplomatic status, Russian Embassies, Consulates, Trade Missions and of the Russian media, they were discomforted.”
Zakharova said that the American side poses intentions to restore the previous level of ties with the Russian Federation.
“They are obviously talking about this, their representatives in various spheres. I mean civil society, business circles, say that it would be nice to restore relations saying they understand that this cannot be achieved instantly but surely there should be an interest in this,” she added.
On February 27 and April 10, two rounds of negotiations between Russia and the United States took place in Istanbul, focusing on restoring the functionality of the Russian and US embassies and addressing various bilateral concerns. During these consultations, Russia’s Ambassador to Washington Alexander Darchiev led the Russian delegation, while Sonata Coulter, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, headed the US team.
The Russian and US delegations were expected to meet once again in Moscow. However, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on June 16 that the planned negotiations between Russia and the United States had been postponed due to Washington’s desire to “take a break.” Zakharova expressed hope that this pause would not be too long.
Moscow assumes that the third round will take place in the near future, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in a June 24 interview with the Izvestia newspaper. He noted that the time and location will be coordinated, “but it is important that the US side also recognizes the need to continue such efforts.”
