US and Russian officials to meet in Istanbul as Ukraine diplomacy continues

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says talks aim to ease functions of diplomatic missions

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meeting at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. SPA / AFP

US and Russian diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss re-establishing their diplomatic missions, as the Trump administration departs from decades of American policy towards Russia and warms to Moscow.

“Such a meeting will take place in Istanbul tomorrow,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following a visit to Qatar on Wednesday, according to Russian state-owned news agency Tass.

The meeting in Turkey appears aimed at starting the process of restaffing the two world powers’ respective embassies in Washington, DC, and Moscow, amid a flurry of diplomacy over ending the war in Ukraine, which entered its fourth year this week.

“We have announced that our diplomats and high-level experts will meet to address the systemic problems that have piled up as a result of the previous [US] administration’s illegitimate activities aimed at creating artificial obstacles for the work of the Russian embassy, to which we clearly responded in kind, also creating uncomfortable conditions for the operation of the US embassy in Moscow,” Mr Lavrov said. There were no details immediately available about who exactly would represent each nation in the talks.

Re-establishing diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow was one of four key points agreed on between Russian and US officials in face to face talks in Riyadh earlier this month, as the US steers talks to end the conflict in Ukraine. The last Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, left his post last October.

“We’re going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists in Saudi Arabia.

The Trump administration has taken a more pro-Russia approach than any US president since the start of the Cold War, raising fears in Ukraine that negotiations will take place on terms more favourable to Moscow than Kyiv. On Monday, the US voted with Russia on three UN resolutions over ending the three year-conflict, breaking with its European allies and highlighting the scale of the shift in US policy towards Moscow.

Leaders in Kyiv have expressed frustration and deep concern that the US and Russia are conducting peace talks within Ukrainian participation.

“The peace negotiations and the peace talks should be carried out with the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara last week.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry confirmed the US-Russia meeting.

“A technical level meeting between Russian and American delegations will take place tomorrow in Istanbul,” a ministry spokesman said. “As we have repeatedly stated, Turkey is ready to provide all kinds of support to peace efforts, including hosting future talks.”

The US-Russia talks in Istanbul, as well as recent, separate, visits by Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Lavrov to Turkey, appear to form part of that support, as Ankara attempts to carve out a role as a regional mediator.

Mr Fidan has said that Ankara valued the US efforts for peace, but believes that both Russia and Ukraine, “must participate for a solution”, according to a statement from Turkey’s government communications directorate released following Turkish officials’ meetings with Mr Lavrov on Monday.