Diplomats from Russia and the United States will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the operation of their respective embassies in Moscow and Washington, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.
The meeting follows Russia-U.S. talks in Saudi Arabia last week that marked an extraordinary shift in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump and a clear departure from U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine.
He said they will discuss “the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the unlawful activities of the previous (U.S.) 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.”.
A U.S. Embassy official in Ankara confirmed that U.S. and Russian delegations will hold talks in Istanbul on Thursday on issues affecting the operation of respective diplomatic missions.
Prior to Trump's second administration, 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.
