Bilateral discussions on Embassy issues in Istanbul come as Trump is positioned as a main broker in the Ukrainian peace agreement.
President Vladimir Putin expressed “hope” on the prospect that Russia restores relations with the United States while the two countries sent diplomats to Istanbul for interviews on the normalization of the functioning of their respective embassies in the capitals of the other.
Addressing a meeting of the Federal Security Service, Putin praised the new administration of the American president Donald Trump For his “pragmatism and realistic vision”, describing a “mutual mood” to reset relationships and resolve “systemic and strategic problems … in world security architecture”.
The Russian president’s television comments came while Moscow and Washington sent representatives to the Turkiye shopping center Thursday for more than six hours of talks on the defrosting of diplomatic relations, which – in the words of the Kremlin – fell from “less zero” last year in the context of the Russian war in Ukraine.
The talks, held at the residence of the American consul general, aimed to solve the problems of the embassy, in particular the Tit-For-Tat measures which saw the two countries expel diplomats and limit the appointment of new employees during the missions of the other.
An official of the US State Department had previously clearly indicated that Ukraine would not be on the agenda, with talks focused mainly on issues such as endowment levels, visas and diplomatic banking services. “We will soon know if Russia is really ready to engage in good faith,” he said.
None of the countries identified the participants, but the Russian state news agency TASS said that the Russian delegation included “representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.
CV Talks of the United States-Russia
The links between Moscow and Washington fell to their lowest levels since the Cold War after Russia launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The administration of the president of the time, Joe Biden, firmly supported Ukraine with aid and arms and imposed sanctions on Russia during the war.
But Trump reported a radical change in relationships, having a telephone call with Putin earlier this month as part of a broader awareness effort.
Six days later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Saudi Arabia, where they agreed to start talks on the three -year Ukraine conflict – without involving kyiv.
The rapprochement alarmed Ukraine and its European allies, which raises fears that Moscow and Washington will agree on a cease-fire contract to end the war which listens to them and undermines their security.
Trump approached the prospect of a Ukraine agreement on a plate on the Oval Office with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, highlighting his “very good relationship” with Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukraine war talks
On Friday, Zelenskyy is expected to sign an agreement granting access to the United States to the deposit of rare land minerals, an agreement described by Trump as a means of recovering the dollars of taxpayers sent as aid to Ukraine throughout the war.
During his meeting with Starmer, Trump reiterated his opposition to the provision of security guarantees to kyiv, saying that the mineral agreement was the only security guarantee that Ukraine needed, acting as a “safety net” against future Russian assault.
“I do not think that anyone will play if we are there with many workers and that we have to do with rare earths and other things, which we need for our country,” he said.
The American president also expressed his confidence that Russia, who opposed the proposals of European peacekeepers to be sent to Ukraine, would not return to any peace agreement.
“For the moment, we have no contract. We have Russia, we have Ukraine. I think we are very well advanced. I think Russia has acted very well, “he said.
“I trust that if we conclude an agreement, it will be held,” said Trump.