American and Russian delegations continued their direct engagement in an effort toward normalization, meeting Thursday in Istanbul for talks which lasted for more than five hours. Moscow’s newly appointed ambassador to Washington, Aleksandr Darchiev, led the Russian side, while the US side was headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Sonata Coulter.
Darchiev was quoted in TASS after the meeting as saying that an “understanding has been reached [to pursue] further measures aimed at easing the movement of diplomats in the host country as well as related visa procedures.”
The two sides are also working on a road map to restore Russian diplomatic properties previously seized by the US, according to regional media.
Additionally the Russian Foreign Ministry in the wake of the Istanbul meeting announced that the Russian and US diplomats both committed to “facilitating uninterrupted banking and financial services for Russian and American diplomatic missions.”
As for the US side, the State Department characterized the “constructive” ongoing talks, which however were not focused on Ukraine in this latest meeting.
“The U.S. and Russian delegations exchanged notes to finalize an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and U.S. bilateral missions,” a statement said.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce had previewed earlier in the week that “Ukraine is not, absolutely not on the agenda.”
“These talks are solely focused on our embassy operations, not on normalizing a bilateral relationship overall, which can only happen, as we’ve noted, once there is peace between Russia and Ukraine.”
Broader talks on how to achieve ceasefire in Ukraine are basically stalled. There’s been little movement on this as the White House deals with fallout from Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, and the tit-for-tat trade standoff with China.
President Putin is in no hurry either, given he’s sees Russian forces as having the momentum on the battlefield, particularly in Donetsk and in the south. Some reports, however, have said that frontlines have been largely stalemated for many months, though it is also clear that Russian forces have been advancing a village or so at a time as each week progresses.
Recently, Moon of Alabama pointed out there remains strong hope for a final Ukraine settlement. “Trump had previously allured to the Russiagate hoax when talking about Putin. He seems to see Putin as a victim of the scam just like he himself was a victim of it,” the geopolitical blog observed. “I believe this to be, at least in Trump’s eyes, an issue that bonds the two men together. It is what makes a deal possible.”
And further: “It is not only that Trump sees himself and Putin as victims of the Russiagate story. He does regard it as having been dangerous. To make (false) claims about political interference by another nuclear power needlessly could have led, and still could lead, to more serious altercations.”
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