Meeting in Turkey

USA/Russia: Round in Istanbul without result

Journalists waited in vain for a statement.(Bild: AP/Francisco Seco)

Delegations from the US and Russian governments met for six hours in Turkey on Thursday to discuss a rapprochement in relations between the two countries. US President Donald Trump recently also held out the prospect of economic rapprochement between the two superpowers. 

According to the official Russian news agency Tass, there was no public announcement following the meeting in the shielded residence of the US Consul General in Istanbul. The talks focused on the question of how the work of the respective diplomatic missions could be normalized.

The US State Department explained before the meeting that the talks would focus on topics such as staffing levels, visas and diplomatic banking. "To be clear, there are no political or security issues on the agenda. Ukraine is not on the agenda," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Europe fears a "dictated peace"
Ukraine and the Europeans as a whole fear that the USA and Russia could reach an agreement to end the war. However, both the government in Kiev and its European allies reject such a "dictated peace".

Selensky is currently having to fight for Trump's favor.(Bild: AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin explained in Moscow that initial contacts with Trump's new administration had raised hopes. There is a willingness on both sides to restore inter-state relations and gradually resolve the many systemic and strategic problems in the global security architecture. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the talks in Istanbul should be the first in a series of contacts to build trust and eliminate "irritations" in bilateral relations.

Expulsions due to election meddling and poison attack
At the end of 2016, the USA under President Barack Obama expelled 35 Moscow diplomats from the country due to attempts by Russia to influence the US elections. In 2017, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin forced the US missions in Russia to cut 755 employees.

In 2018, the USA closed the Russian Consulate General in Seattle during Trump's first term of office and expelled 60 diplomats. This was in response to the poison attack on the Russian ex-agent Sergei Skripal in the UK. Moscow responded in mirror image with the expulsion of 60 US representatives. Further expulsions of Russian diplomats from the USA followed in 2022 and 2023 due to the war of aggression against Ukraine.