US and Russian officials to meet for second round of embassy talks in Istanbul

Thursday's discussions will focus on diplomatic missions and not cover Ukraine, says Washington

A sign reading 'We are together' outside the American embassy in Moscow. Russia and the US are seeking to rebuild ties. AFP

US and Russian officials will hold a second round of talks in Istanbul on Thursday, as the countries attempt to rebuild diplomatic ties following the Trump administration’s departure from years of anti-Kremlin sentiment in Washington.

Russian sources and the US State Department confirmed the talks, which will focus on the operations of their diplomatic missions in Russia and the US.

Russian state news agency Tass, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Moscow's delegation would be led by ambassador to Washington Alexander Darchiev, who was appointed shortly after the last meeting in the Turkish city at the end of February. Deputy assistant secretary of state for Russia and Central Europe Sonata Coulter will lead the US delegation, added Tass.

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the talks aimed at making “progress on further stabilising the operations of our bilateral missions,” and that there were no political or security issues on the agenda. “Ukraine is not, absolutely not on the agenda,” she said on Tuesday.

The Trump administration has not yet appointed a new ambassador to Moscow, and Ms Bruce did not state if a new representative would be assigned as a result of tomorrow’s meetings.

A Russian diplomatic official previously told The National that the last round of talks in Istanbul had focused on repairing ties marred by what he described as the “seizure” of Russian-owned real estate in the US dating back to Barack Obama's administration, along with the ejection of Russian diplomats and reciprocal measures taken by Moscow. Other points of discussion included the “normalisation” of work visas and travel permissions for citizens of the two countries.

Thursday's talks will be “solely focused” on embassy operations, and not on the overall normalisation of bilateral relations, Ms Bruce added. This “can only happen, as we've noted, once there is peace between Russia and Ukraine.”

Separately, US officials have met multiple times with both Russian and Ukrainian delegations in recent weeks for negotiations attempting to end the three-year long conflict in Ukraine.

Those talks resulted at the end of March in an initial agreement to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and to introduce a ban on attacks against energy facilities in the two countries, although European officials have accused Moscow of “flip-flopping” on the deal and continuing strikes on energy infrastructure. Russian officials have also accused Ukraine of violating the agreement.

Turkey has presented itself as willing to facilitate negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, as it attempts to burnish its credentials as a stabilising force able to halt regional conflicts.

It has separately hosted both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is expected back in Turkey this weekend to attend a conference in the southern resort city of Antalya. Ankara's ability to act as a fully-fledged mediator in the conflict is curbed by Moscow’s frustration at Turkish firms providing arms to Kyiv. Some analysts say Turkey's role is limited to facilitating talks.