Russia has offered the United States the restoration of direct air links between the two countries during the latest round of consultations with Washington. The Russian Foreign Ministry today said that diplomats from both countries met in Istanbul yesterday to discuss normalising the operation of their respective embassies, which have been crippled by multiple rounds of diplomats’ expulsions in previous years.
The Russian Foreign Ministry hailed the talks as substantive and businesslike. It said that joint steps were agreed upon to ensure unimpeded financing of the activities of the diplomatic missions of Russia and the United States on a reciprocal basis and to create appropriate conditions for diplomats to perform their official duties.
The ministry also said it offered the U.S. the possibility of restoring direct air traffic. The U.S. and other Western nations cut air links with Russia as part of a slew of sanctions imposed on Moscow after it sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The U.S.-Russia talks in Istanbul followed an understanding reached during U.S. President Donald Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and negotiations between senior Russian and U.S. diplomats and other officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. In Riyadh, Moscow and Washington agreed to start working toward ending the conflict in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties.