Main focus, according to Moscow and Washington, is restoring work of diplomatic missions after years of rows
\n ISTANBUL
\nUS and Russian delegations arrived on Thursday for talks in Istanbul on normalising the work of their diplomatic missions after the war in Ukraine triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the depths of the Cold War.
\nThe talks will be led by Russia\u2019s new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Sonata Coulter, Russia\u2019s foreign ministry said.
\nThe main focus, according to Moscow and Washington, is restoring the work of diplomatic missions after years of rows, mutual claims of intimidation and even the freezing of diplomatic property complicated relations between the two nuclear powers.
\n\u201cUkraine is not, absolutely not on the agenda,\u201d State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday.
\n\u201cThese talks are solely focused on our embassy operations, not on normalizing a bilateral relationship overall, which can only happen, as we\u2019ve noted, once there is peace between Russia and Ukraine.\u201d
\nBoth Moscow and Washington have complained in recent years about the difficulties of getting credentials for their diplomats, making the operation of their embassies extremely difficult.
\nRussia has said that even paying diplomats has become difficult due to Western restrictions, while US diplomats say their movements are restricted in Russia. Both sides have complained of intimidation. Among the issues is diplomatic property.
\nWashington has put six Russian properties under restrictions, including the Killenworth estate on Long Island, the Pioneer Point \u201cdacha\u201d in Maryland, the Russian consulates in San Francisco and Seattle and the trade missions in Washington and New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Main focus, according to Moscow and Washington, is restoring work of diplomatic missions after years of rows ISTANBUL US and Russian delegations arrived on Thursday for talks in Istanbul on normalising the work of their diplomatic missions after the war in Ukraine triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the depths of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-471757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n