US and Russian diplomats meet in Istanbul for second round of talks

Diplomats from Russia and the United States are meeting in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the operation of their respective embassies in Moscow and Washington.

This second round meeting follows Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia last week that marked an extraordinary shift in US foreign policy under President Donald Trump and a clear departure from US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine.

At the talks, Moscow and Washington agreed to start working towards ending the war and improving their diplomatic and economic ties.

This includes restoring the staffing at embassies, which have been hard hit in recent years by the mutual expulsion of many diplomats and other restrictions.

A US Embassy official in Ankara confirmed that Ukraine will not be on the agenda in this round of talks. Instead, delegations will discuss issues affecting the operation of their respective diplomatic missions.

The meetings that are taking place are a build-up for a leaders’ summit. The last time the leaders of Russia and the US came face to face was in the 2019 Osaka G20 summit.

Prior to Trump’s second term, ties between Moscow and Washington had fallen to Cold War lows after Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine officials still not present

Ukrainian officials were not present at last week’s talks and no will they be at this week’s meeting.

The Kremlin insisted that the meeting was about restoring relations and dialogue with the United States, something it said would pave the way for eventual peace talks.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to Qatar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said diplomats will discuss “the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the unlawful activities of the previous (US) administration to create artificial obstacles for the work of the Russian embassy, to which we, naturally, reciprocated and also created uncomfortable conditions for the work of the American embassy in Moscow.”

Lavrov added that based on the outcome of the meeting, “it will be clear how quickly and effectively we can move forward.”

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncu Keçeli confirmed that Russian and US delegations would meet at a “technical level” in Istanbul on Thursday but did not provide details.

Keçeli also reiterated Turkey’s offer to “provide all kinds of support to peace efforts, including hosting future talks.”