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Russian and American Delegations Reportedly Meet in Istanbul to Discuss Diplomatic Missions
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![Amira_barkhush]( "Photo of Amira Barkhush")
US and Russian delegations arrived in Istanbul on April 10 for talks aimed at normalizing the work of their diplomatic missions, according to Reuters.
Journalists from the agency captured footage of several vehicles entering the Russian consulate building in central Istanbul.
According to Russia’s foreign ministry, the talks will be led by Russia’s new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Sonata Coulter.
The primary aim, according to both Russia and the US, is to restore the functioning of their diplomatic missions.
On April 8, the US State Department announced that American and Russian delegations would meet in Istanbul to discuss the functioning of their diplomatic missions. The department stressed that the discussions would be limited to embassy operations and would not address political or security matters.
“Ukraine is not—absolutely not—on the agenda,” US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. “These talks are solely focused on embassy operations. Normalizing the broader bilateral relationship can only happen, as we’ve made clear, once there is peace between Russia and Ukraine.”
