In a significant diplomatic development, Russian and U.S. officials convened in Istanbul on Thursday to negotiate the normalization of embassy operations after years marred by the expulsion of diplomats from both countries. This meeting follows an understanding reached in a phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, supplemented by discussions among top-ranking Russian and U.S. diplomats and officials conducted in Saudi Arabia.
Last week’s discussions in Riyadh signified a remarkable shift in Washington’s foreign policy under the Trump administration, diverging from previous U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia due to its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. In Riyadh, both nations agreed to collaborate on ending the ongoing conflict and enhancing their diplomatic and economic engagements, including the restoration of embassy staffing levels, which had suffered due to reciprocal expulsion of diplomats and other punitive measures.
An official from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara confirmed that the Istanbul talks would address issues relating to the functioning of the embassies. Simultaneously, Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of the upper house of Russia’s parliament, voiced optimism during her visit to Turkey, asserting that the diplomatic discussions should lead to the restoration of full-scale operations at the embassies.
Matvienko expressed confidence that agreements would be achieved, heralding a return to civilized diplomatic interactions disrupted by prior U.S. administration decisions. Before Trump’s second term, relations between Moscow and Washington had deteriorated to their lowest point since the Cold War, largely due to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Notably absent from the Riyadh talks were Ukrainian officials. The Kremlin emphasized that the meeting focused on reestablishing dialogue and relations with the United States, which they believe will eventually facilitate peace negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking in Qatar, highlighted that the Istanbul discussions aim to address systemic problems resulting from past U.S. administration policies that created obstacles for the Russian embassy’s operations, to which Russia had countered with similar actions toward the American embassy in Moscow.
Lavrov noted the importance of these negotiations, asserting that their outcome will indicate the speed and effectiveness of progress in U.S.-Russia diplomatic relations moving forward.
