US Department of State shares details of meeting with Russians in Türkiye

The US Department of State has announced that Moscow and Washington have outlined specific initial steps to stabilise the operations of their diplomatic missions following talks between the two nations in Istanbul, Türkiye.

The State Department noted in a statement that the Istanbul meeting had focused on the operations of the United States and Russian diplomatic missions.

The US delegation was headed by Sonata Coulter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Russia and Central Europe, while the Russian delegation was led by Alexander Darchiyev, Director of the North Atlantic Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Russia’s ambassador-designate for the United States.

"The United States raised concerns regarding access to banking and contracted services as well as the need to ensure stable and sustainable staffing levels at the US Embassy in Moscow. Through constructive discussions, both sides identified concrete initial steps to stabilise bilateral mission operations in these areas," the statement said.

Coulter and Darchiyev agreed to hold another meeting on these matters soon, with the date, location, and participant details to be decided later.

Earlier, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin praised the Donald Trump administration for its "pragmatism" and "realistic view of things", adding that initial contacts with US officials had sparked "certain hopes".

The talks in Istanbul followed a meeting between the US and Russian delegations on 18 February in Saudi Arabia, which was not attended by Ukraine.

After the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, the US Department of State said that the delegations agreed to "address the irritants" to the bilateral relationship and continue preparing talks on Russia's war against Ukraine.