“Serious irritation elements”. Americans and Russians stayed 6 hours in negotiations with closed doors from Istanbul

Russia and the United States carried on Istanbul on Thursday, negotiations cataloged as “positive” for normalizing their diplomatic relations, but without reaching any concrete agreement, writes the Spanish press agency EFE.

“The new round of bilateral consultations at the level of experts (…) was held in a positive atmosphere and allowed progress in solving the problems raised by the two presidents” (Vladimir Putin, respectively Donald Trump), told the Russian press Aleksandr Darciev, Russia's ambassador to the US, who led Moscow, which led to Moscow.

Both parties found the existence of “serious serious irritation elements” in their bilateral relationships, which- according to the Russian diplomat- were inherited from the previous administration in Washington (President Joe Biden's administration).

These elements “must be eliminated urgently to strengthen confidence and fully restore the relations between the two states,” said Darciev, adding that, in the next period, “the initiatives presented by the parties will be worked to reach new agreements on the next round of consultations.”

What did the negotiators discussed

Darciev emphasized the importance of regaining Russia on the control of the confiscated diplomatic buildings in the US, and both parties have agreed to make this problem.

“We have agreed on additional measures to simplify the diplomat traffic regime and also regarding the processing of their visas,” the Russian ambassador said.

Also, the necessity of providing non -birocratic banking and financial services for the diplomatic missions of both countries was discussed.

In addition, negotiators stressed that the intensification of contacts between citizens and businessmen will allow the restoration of air transport services between the US and Russia, which Moscow is very interested.

Negotiations with closed doors, to which the American delegation was led by the deputy assistant of the Secretary of State for Russia and Central Europe, Sonata Coulter, lasted almost six hours.

The previous round of consultations at the level of experts in Istanbul took place on February 27, two weeks after the first telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.

Washington and Moscow also had two other meetings to normalize bilateral relations, in the Saudi Riad capital.

Previously, the spokesman for the US State Department, Tammy Bruce, had stated that the consultations in Istanbul would not discuss the Ukraine war, which confirmed by Kremlin on Thursday, nor about a complete normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.